I'm Just Your Problem, Too
by Jazzieloo
Summary: A sequel to I'm Just Your Problem, Baby. I would highly advise against reading this if you haven't read the original. Follows the lives of the children of our original group, with appearances from our favorite characters. Sometimes, all an epic story needs is a humble beginning... -DISCONTINUED. REWRITING THE FIC-
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer;

This piece is a work of fiction. FanFiction. While this is mostly original work, I do not own any of the characters from Adventure Time. Only the ones I'm making up.

Forewarning;

If you have not read _I'm Just Your Problem, Baby_ parts of this may not make any sense to you. This is a sequel. While you aren't _required_ to read the first part, it is a little bit long, you may find yourself very confused at some points.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

It was a normal day, the week before the semester started. I was going into my third year at college, along with my sister. I was going to a school up north, six hours away from my hometown. My family had always lived in an isolated area, far away from most other people. We didn't live in a neighborhood, and my one of my parents always drove me to and from school. My parents, well, they weren't really much for socializing. My mom wasn't, at the very least.

" _Get too close to anyone, they aren't going to do anything but distract you from you really should be doing,"_ She used to always say to my siblings and me. _"Focus on yourself. You're the only one who can make you really happy."_

She was kind of a bitter woman, with a lot of bite and nastiness to her. She tried to raise us to all be fiercely independent, not to have to rely on anybody else in the world. Including our parents. I thought it was ironic, sometimes, that despite all that my parents were always together. They never left each other's side.

I was a junior at college, along with my sister, Chelsea. We'd been together since the day we were born, separated only by three minutes. She was a beautiful young woman, with wavy dark black hair that she kept cut just underneath her ears. Her eyes were a calming dark brown sitting underneath her two thin, perfectly curved eyebrows and she had this sharp little nose that jutted out just the tiny bit _and_ flawless skin. I don't think I had _ever_ seen a blemish on her.

She was a bit taller than I was, about an inch I think. It didn't help that she often wore heels and I often wore… well, sneakers. Cliché, I know. She had much more patience than me, though, putting a lot of time and thought into her appearance. Me? I was perfectly happy to leave the house in sweatpants and a t-shirt.

But she would wake up an hour and a half earlier than I did, every single morning to get ready. She would have an often already laid out from the night before. She'd get up and go take a twenty-minute shower. Then, she'd carefully, _carefully_ dab herself dry with a clean towel. She was meticulous and vigilant with her makeup appliance, zeroing in on every detail she added to her face. Even on days where all we were planning to do was sit in the house and watch netflix.

And then there was me, the twin sister who was not _nearly_ as beautiful. My hair, unlike my sisters, was bright orangey-red. It was straight, for the most part, save for the tiny little curly alfalfa I had just above my forehead. Most of the time, it spent it's life bobby-pinned down to my head. My family always made a habit of poking fun at it whenever I forgot.

I had bright green eyes. "Like the forest", my mom used to tell me, with a smile on her face. I had thicker eyebrows than my sister, a little bit like Cara DeLevingne. I was freckly, _so_ much frecklier than my sister. I wasn't anywhere close to as graceful as she was either. Every movement I took could only really be described as hulky or crude. I took big long steps when I walked, my arms always swinging by my sides. I had a constant frown on my face, even if I was in a good mood.

Despite our differences, however, we had almost identical faces. Our parents often wondered if we were supposed to be identical twins but got confused along the way. Our eyes were both oval-shaped, round but thin towards the end. We both had small ears that were easy to hide inside our hair. Both of us had a thick upper lip, but a thin bottom lip. Chelsea had a small black little birthmark underneath her left eye, while I had a similar one underneath my right eye.

On this particular day, a week before school actually started, Chelsea and I had been moving some things into our newly shared apartment. Our school had required that we live on campus our freshmen and sophomore years. The second we could get out of those damned dorms, we ran like our heels were on fire. Not that dorm life was horrible. We had been each others roommates for the two years, and had always managed to get along. The luxury of getting to take a shower, without a bug running through the stall, or the hot water suddenly disappearing, and not having to walk all the way back in nothing but your towel carrying that little bag of toiletries with you, was something I was never going to take for granted again. On top of that, having your own kitchen, where you can store your own food and actually make meals? That was truly godsend.

We had finished unpacking, for the most part. There were a few boxes here and there in my room and the living room. Chelsea had gotten some of her guy friends (boys from the football team, I think) to help us move all of our stuff in. Thank the lord, because it would've taken us days if it was just her and me.

I had decided to take a trip out of the house, not wanting to be stuck inside all day. I had gone for a short walk around campus, while it was still warm out. Come October, the cold weather hit this school like a bulldozer. Soon, I'd be struggling just to walk to class without being knocked over by the strong gusts of wind into the two feet tall snow covering the ground.

I was sitting in the library, trying to read a book. _Jane Eyre._ A great read, if you haven't read it before. This was my third time reading it. I was snuggling up in a huge, comfy brown chair. My backpack lay on the ground beneath me, pressed against my idle leg. My other leg was tucked underneath me, my shoes on the ground in front of the chair. I had earbuds on, the soft sounds of a single piano caressing my ears at a low volume level, helping me tune out the outside world without completely obstructing my ability to hear.

I idly noticed as a person sat in the chair across from me, not picking my eyes up from my book. They gave a small groan and stretched their legs out onto the table in between us. I heard them rustle through their backpack before pulling something out. I soon figured it was a laptop when I heard them furiously typing away.

With dull interest, I lifted my eyes up. They were wearing a pair of dark colored tims and black jeans. It was a girl, I could tell by the thinness of her legs. My eyes reached their way up to the girls face, only to find her looking back at me, with a smile.

Her eyes were as blue as the sky on a clear day. It was almost as if her pupils were the sun itself, bright with some unspoken amusement. She had an easy, lazy grin on her face as she looked back at me. Her silk-like black hair was done up in a big messy bun, on the very top of her head. She was wearing a red-flannel shirt, underneath a thin black hooded jacket. She had on black-rimmed glasses, her eyes seeming to glint as she looked back at me.

Embarrassed, I closed my book, shoved it into my backpack, and quickly walked out of the library. I could practically feel her watch me as I left, and when I reached the door I dared to glance back.

She had an eyebrow raised at me, as if she was watching something interesting, not just noticing how befuddled and frazzled I was by my own behavior. I walked back to my apartment in a daze. I didn't remember anything about the walk back, only the heat I felt on my cheeks and how my head seemed to be spinning.

I didn't even notice that my sister was talking to me when I had entered the apartment. I simply walked to my room and sat down on my bed, staring at the ugly blue carpet floor.

"Kelsey!" My sister shouted, suddenly standing right in front of me. I blinked, surprised, and looked up at her. She frowned down at me while she spoke. "I've been trying to tell you something for ten minutes. Is something wrong?"

"No, no, I'm fine," I said, shaking my head. "Just a little tired."

"Tired?" She said, her frown deepening. "I was about to tell you about a party, though."

"Tell me, tell me," I encouraged, patting the bed next to me. She smiled at me, sitting down beside me.

"Derrick said-" Chelsea said, with a huge smile. "You remember Derrick?"

"Derrick the Junior, lacrosse guy?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, him," She said, happily. "Well, apparently the boys lacrosse team is throwing a party at their seniors house. And Derrick said we could come. Actually, he _insists_ that we make an appearance."

"Seriously?" I said, surprised. "Normally it's just them and the girls team, isn't it?"

"What can I say?" She said, with a confident grin. "It helps to be good looking."

"Yeah, whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. "We look the same."

"And I'll be damned if you don't manage to get some tail tonight," She said, wiggling her eyebrows. "You're a damn good looking girl, if I do say so myself. Maybe wear your hair down, take off your glasses."

"I'm not _looking_ for any tail, tonight." I said, frowning. "I don't mind going to a party though. I could use the distraction."

"Distraction? Uh oh." She said, frowning back at me, worry in her eyes. "Something happened. Don't lie to me; I'm your sister. I can tell when you lie."

"No, nothing _happened_ ," I said, sighing.

"It can't be _nothing_ if you look this confused," She said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You can tell me anything, seriously."

"There seriously isn't _anything_ to tell," I said, shrugging. "There was this girl in the library, absolutely gorgeous. But she was just… looking at me. It was weird."

"Maybe she likes you," My sister said, nudging me in the side with a smile. "I did just say you were pretty hot."

"The likely hood of some randomly smoking girl being interested in me is zero to none." I said, shaking my head. "Let's be real; the probability of _any_ random girl being interested in me is pretty low. No one on this campus really screams 'I like girls'."

"Oi, don't be such a pessimist." Chelsea said, springing up from my bed to stand in front of me. "I've got a feeling. Something good is going to happen tonight, and it's going to happen to _you_."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" she repeated, enthusiastically. "Maybe your mystery girl will be there."

"And what about _you_?" I asked back.

"Hey, you finding someone to hook up with, left off some steam," She said, rolling her eyes as she walked out of my bedroom door. "Trust me. That's good for me too."

"Shut up," I groaned as she left, laughing.

Xx

Xx

Four hours later, at about 8 o'clock PM, we had made our way over to the party. It had taken almost all of those four hours for Chelsea to get ready. She had some thick, black eyeliner on, and red lipstick. Clad in a simple black romper, with white and blue designs, and a pair of silver heels, she looked about ready to hit the runway, _or_ show up to a college kegger.

I, on the other hand, was dressed simply. Black jeans, a white tank top, and a blue and white checkered long sleeve tied around my waist. My long hair was in high pony tail on the back of my head and I was still wearing my glasses. I had a pair of comfortable white converse on, silently hoping that they didn't get _too_ dirty.

I could hear music and loud voices before we had even walked inside. At this moment, I desperately wished that I had downed half a bottle of vodka before we had arrived. There was no way I was making it through this sober.

"I _really_ wish I had downed half a bottle of vodka before we got here," Chelsea said with a frown. We were at the front door now, after walking up a small hill of stairs. "I don't think I can get through this, sober."

"Funny," I said, my own frown mirroring hers as I eyed the dirty interior of the house after opening the door. "I was _just_ thinking the same thing."

"Hey, let's go look for Derrick," She said, encouragingly patting me on the arm. "I'm sure it'll be fun once we find someone we know."

Within the next thirty seconds, I had lost my sister to a crowd of sweaty bodies and alcohol breath. I didn't even bother calling for her, she wouldn't have been able to hear me. In retrospect, it might've been smarter to grab the end of her shirt, like I used to do when we were little kids.

The last I saw of her, her black hair was bouncing away further and further away from me, leaving me alone in a sea of people I didn't know. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not the super anti-social kind, but I've never really done well around people I don't know.

I glanced around, silently hoping and _praying_ someone I knew had decided to come here tonight. I bobbed and weaved, keeping an open eye out, but to no avail. Eventually, I made my way to the homes disgusting kitchen. Lucky for me, there was a plethora of alcoholic beverages to make myself a quick drink with.

I got myself one of those cliché red solo cups, filled it three quarters with cranberry juice and the rest with a strong bottle of Smirnoff. I got a straw, a little bit of ice, and took a sip. It was _blegh_ but not overly so.

Feeling satisfied, I continued to walk around, taking occasional big gulps from my drink. I walked around for over an hour, dancing by myself every once in a while, making idle chat with some people, dodging overly eager boys who (unfortunately) had no way of knowing that I would be interested in them.

I put my drink down on a table, for a second, to fix my shirt. It was slipping off of my waist, and I didn't want to drop it on the wet floor. I fixed my shirt and looked up and around, once again hoping that someone I knew was here or that Chelsea would suddenly appear.

That was when I saw _her._ The unbelievably gorgeous human being from the earlier in the library, idly chatting with two boys that oddly looked similar to her and another girl. Her long black hair fell just below her waist, not confined in the same bun it was before. It flowed around her like it was the night itself, wavy and soft and easy. It contrasted against her pale white skin and her bright, bright, _bright_ sky blue eyes.

She wasn't wearing anything particularly special, something told me that she had just thrown on whatever was at the top of her laundry. A baseball tee, with a solid white torso and dark blue shoulders and arms, and a light blue jean shorts, covering half of her rest of her toned, muscular leg was left on display for everyone to see. She had taken off her glasses, her eyes sparkling at full strength. She wasn't wearing any shoes or socks, which struck me as odd, but she made it look so natural.

She lifted one of her dainty hands, with perfectly manicured fingers, to brush some hair off of her neck, small beads of sweat falling down and into her shirt. She laughed, her teeth perfectly straight and ivory white, before her eyes landed on me. She gave me a confused squint and I suddenly realized I had been staring. She smiled.

I turned away from her, quickly, not having even realized I had been staring at her. I went to pick my drink back up and made to walk out of the house. It was a real task, however, since so many bodies were packed so close together.

I had spilled half of my drink before I made it to the back door that lead to a small yard and a sparkling pool. I took in a deep breath with my mouth, the first one in an hour and a half that didn't taste like beer and sweat. My throat was dry and parched and I lifted my red plastic cup to my lips.

Unceremoniously, the cup was flung from my hands. It flew several feet in front of me before dropping into the pool. The red beverage left the cup, contaminating the perfectly blue water. Confused, I looked to see what had caused my drink to go flying from me, mentally prepared to slap someone upside the head.

"That was roofie'd," An oddly melodic voice said, with a thin British accent. Standing before me was the same girl from earlier, standing easily two inches above me. Her mouth formed a crooked line on her face as she looked at me, obviously displeased. "Definitely didn't want that, trust me."

"Huh?" I managed to intelligently blurt out.

"Don't you know the golden rule of parties?" She said, frowning at me. "Don't put your drink down. And if you do, you don't try to drink it later. Some guy tried to drug you."

"Oh," I said, blinking at her. Of course I knew that rule, how could I have been so stupid? Her blue eyes looked as though they were piercing through my soul, and I had trouble coming up with something smart to say back besides; "Woops."

"Yeah, big woops," She said, with a small chuckle. Her smile was the most dazzling thing I'd ever seen, her white teeth almost blinding me. "You have any friends here?"

"Uh, I did," I said, frowning deeply.

"Did?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Parties aren't really a place to just be by yourself. Self-preservation, dude."

"I came with my sister, who went looking for her friend," I said, my shoulders sagging. "I lost her an hour and a half ago."

"An hour?" She said, with a laugh. "How have you managed to stay alive so long?"

"Honestly?" I said, my own laugh bubbling in my chest, slipping out in small amounts. "I have no idea."

"You know what," She said, with a grin. My heart stopped at her smile. "You hang with me tonight. No one's going to get to you under my watchful eye."

"Uh… okay," I said, blinking at her once again. She shook her head and laughed, knowingly.

"It's the grin, right?" She asked, her smile not leaving her face. "It's a family trait. It can get anybody."

"Oh," I said, unsure of how to respond. After a moment I just laughed and said; "Glad it's not just me."

"It's not," She laughed again. The sound bounced around in my ears like a little red ball in a white room. "All generations and all ages have fallen victim to the smile. Trust me."

"I guess I'm going to have to," I said, with a small smile of my own.

"C'mon," She said, grabbing my forearm. Her cold fingers wrapped around my small wrist, and electricity pulsated through my body. It shocked straight through my lungs and my heart, sending my fingertips on fire as I became flushed. She quickly looked back and blinked at me. She looked at me for a second before turning around quickly, looking ahead of her. She let out a small curse underneath her breath; "Jesus _Christ_ …"

She led me back into the house, weaving herself and I easily through the thick amount of people. With a small note of interest, I noticed that she was simply shoving them out of her way and giving them a dirty look to keep them from saying anything.

Soon, we were back in the same place I had seen her standing before. The two young men were still there, as was the young woman, but they were now accompanied by another boy.

"Oi!" She shouted in their direction. They all turned, curiosity quickly growing on their faces when they saw me. "We've got a little stray to take care of."

"Who's this?" A boy with a beard asked.

"This… this is…" she started, before giving me a look. "I don't know your name yet."

"I'm Kelsey," I said, nervously.

"This is Kelsey," She said, triumphantly. "And she just almost got roofie'd."

"Don't tell me it was that good for nothing, Chris," The other girl sighed, shaking her head, an annoyed sigh escaping her lips. "Me and him are going to have a talk, I swear to _god_. He always tries shit like that."

"This is Kathleen," The girl said, introducing the young woman. She had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, with evenly tanned skin. She was taller than I was, but shorter than the black haired girl. She had long limbs, thin legs, and skinny arms. She had thin eyebrows over her brown eyes, and thin lips. I think thin was really the only word think up to describe her. She wasn't unhealthily skinny, but... well, she was thin. "Kathleen Merten. One of the nicest nasty people you'll ever meet."

"I'm Eugene and this is my brother, Dean," One of the taller boys said, jutting his thumb out to the boy that looked similar to him. The two boys had strawberry blonde hair, and looked extremely similar. "We're twins."

"Ah," I said, nodding. Made sense.

"They're my cousins," the black haired girl said, and then I understood the semblance. Their faces were similar, minus the fact that one of them had a small mustache and both boys had chocolate brown eyes. They were both taller than the black haired girl too, standing probably at about six foot three or six foot four.

"Eugene," One of them said, holding up his hand, and I noticed that he was wearing a pink clip in his hair, holding back his bangs.

"Dean," The other, mustached boy, said, nodding at me politely. He had a birthmark underneath his eyes. Perfect, I had a way of telling them apart.

"And now you know which is which," Kathleen said, with a small laugh. "But no one will blame you if you get them confused. We still do."

"That's Frank," The girl continued, pointing to a boy with long messy brown hair, and a full beard. He had hazel eyes that almost looked more gold-yellow. He looked a little bit like one of those guys that wore camo all the time and talked about how much game they got in a hunting trip.

"Yes, I do hunt," He said, with a laugh. I blinked, surprised. _Could he read minds_? "Most people think that when they look at me for the first time. Your face says it all."

"Oh, haha," I said, laughing nervously.

"He's a big teddy bear, I promise," Kathleen said, laughing loudly. "The only thing scary about him is his appearance."

"And I'm Serana," the black haired girl finally finished, with a somewhat boyish grin. My heart stopped again and I swallowed a thick wet breath. "Funny, we've already met but I never told you my name."

"Do you guys all go to Ooo University?" I asked, in an attempt to start conversation and take my mind off of how unfairly gorgeous this girl before me was.

"Yep," Serana said, with a smile and a grin. "Die hards here."

"What year are you guys in?" I continued, sure a confused look was on my face since I wasn't completely sure what a 'die hard' was.

"We're freshmen," Eugene said, patting Dean on the shoulder. "Same as Serana."

"Junior," Franklin said, with a shrug. "Means I have to watch after all these little kids."

"I'm a sophomore," Kathleen said, taking a sip from her drink. She scrunched her nose up and grunted in disgust. "What _is_ this?"

"Beer," Serana said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I hate beer," Kathleen said, frowning as she looked at her drink.

"You poured that yourself," Serana said, frowning at her older friend. "I even told you that you didn't like beer, but you insisted."

"My friend, I do _not_ even remember that happening," She said, blinking at Serana. It was about then that I noticed how red her cheeks were and how hooded her eyes had become. "In fact… how did we get here?"

"Great," Serana mumbled. "And so it begins."

"What begins?" I asked under my breath, confused.

"Life as the only sober friend at the party." Serana said, with a sigh. "Fun parts over."

"Well, I'm pretty sober," I said, a small shrug following.

"So, you haven't had too much vodka?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How did you know I was drinking vodka?" I asked, blinking with surprise as she shrugged.

"I can smell it on your breath," She said, with a smile on her face. "Strong stuff."

"Well, no, I haven't had too much," I said, her smile forcing one onto my own face. "I hadn't even gotten through a cup before you flung it half way to China."

"Brilliant," She said, with a crooked smile. "I knew there was something I liked about you. Even if I did catch you staring at me, in the library."

"Oh my god," I said, my face suddenly turning bright red. I quickly glanced around, only to realize that the rest of her friends were busy in their own conversations. "I wasn't staring. I was looking for a second because you sat down there."

"Hey, don't sweat it," She said, with a low chuckle that definitely reverberated in her chest. I say definitely because it was in mine as well. "I've got that affect on people. It's a family trait, like I said. My uncle, Eugene and Deans dad, he does it even better. Man's gotten more tail than a group of kitsune."

"Huh?" I blinked, unsure of what that meant. I choose to just chuckle lightly and say; "I'm going to assume that it's pretty deadly, then."

"Don't even get me started," She said, with a loud laugh. Her friends looked back at us with raised eyebrows, before going back to their own business with small smiles. She brushed some of her hair from her face and I suddenly had this deep desire to touch it and see how soft it was.

There was a moment of awkward silence, where neither of us really knew what to say next. She scratched the back of her neck and I looked down at the floor. I picked at the cuticles of my nails and she tapped her toes against the ground. We probably stood like that for around five minutes. I spent the whole time desperately trying to think of something to say that wasn't stupid but all I could come up with was; "has anyone ever told you that you've got blue eyes?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you've got a lot of freckles?" She suddenly blurted out. I looked up at her, surprised.

"Uh… yeah, actually," I said, my eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I mean, I _do_ have a lot of freckles."

"Do you freckle more in the summer? That's a thing, right?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. For a moment she reminded me of a dog meeting a new person for the first time, evaluating them. "Some people get more freckly in the sun."

"I do, actually," I said, holding back a small laugh.

"How?" She said, her eyebrows shooting up. "I mean, you're pretty full as is."

"Uh, I don't know, more just appear," I said, looking at her as she gave me a strange look. "Are you seriously asking about my freckles and how they function in the summer time?"

"I'm sorry, that's pretty weird, isn't it?" She said, laughing as she scratched the back of her head. "I don't know, I'm just not very good with awkward silences. I always have this aching need to fill it with something. Hey, wanna get out of here?"

"You mean, like, leave the party?" I asked, watching as she grinned with a small tilt of her head.

"Yeah," She said, nodding enthusiastically. "I mean, let's be really honest. Parties aren't all that fun when you're sober and all your friends are doing stuff without you."

"Well, that's true, bu-" I started, before her cold fingers had latched around my wrist. That same electric shock ran through my body, the small little hairs on my skin sticking up. I thought I saw Serana's body shudder just the smallest bit, but I was convinced it was just my imagination.

"C'mon," She said, happily tugging me along with her. "Do you know any cool spots around here? Show a freshman around?"

"Well… there _is_ the water tower…" I said, as we weaved in between bodies.

"Awesome!" She said, pulling me out of the front door and standing us in the middle of the sidewalk. "Where is it?"

"We'd have to drive there, and I didn't bring my car," I said, frowning. "Do you know where the park is?"

"I'll drive," She said as a huge grin spread on her face. "And yeah, I hang there all the time."

"It's just past there, up on that big hill with all the trees," I said, following the younger girl as she walked down the sidewalk. She, slickly, took a key ring out of her backpack and swung it around her pointer finger.

"I'm just around the block," She said, looking back at me over her shoulder. She scanned my face before her smile grew, yet again. "Hey, don't look so scared. I promise, I'm not the scariest person you'll ever meet."

"You've got to admit," I said, twisting my lips and scrunching my eyebrows. "Having you just pull me out of a party to go somewhere isolated… it's a little shady. You could be a serial killer, for all I know."

"True," She said, with a bright smile that lit up the night. "But you also don't know anything about me. This could become the most exciting night of your life."

"Or my last," I said, frowning as we turned the corner of the block.

"Or both," She said, laughing loudly, her voice deep but melodic. She stopped in front of a new looking motorcycle. It was black, with red linings and oddly shiny red pipes. The seats were black, and when she put her keys in, there was a red under glow. "Here we are."

"Oh, no, no, _no_ ," I said, backing away. I pointed at the thing, horror on my face, and said; "I _will not_ ride on that thing."

"It's totally safe, I promise," She said, giving me a disappointed look. "I didn't have you pegged as a scaredy-cat."

"I'm someone who likes to be able to breathe and use all of my body parts when I want to." I argued, frowning back at her.

"If it wasn't safe, I wouldn't offer to let you ride on it with me," She said, raising an eyebrow. "I've even got a helmet you can wear."

"A helmet isn't going to protect my rib cage, my legs, my arms, my spine, my -" I began to rant, taking another step away from the bike.

"And a careful attitude isn't going to protect you from anything truly harmful," She said, with a small sigh. "I think the most dangerous thing you could possibly do is decide not to _live_. And I'm offering you a chance to live."

"I am living, thank you very much," I scoffed, with a small snort. I folded my arms and glared at her. She raised her eyebrows at me, with surprise and a small smirk. "I came to this party, didn't I? I could've stayed home tonight."

"Parties are so _meticulous_." She said, rolling her eyes. She leaned her upper body against the handlebars, her chin in her hand as she looked at me. "Don't you want to experience something new and different? Memories are the best way of measuring a good life."

"A good life is a _long_ lived life," I argued. "Which might not happen if I get on that bike with you."

"People can live a long time without being happy," She said, with a shrug. "And a good life is a life lived with abundant happiness. But, if you don't want to come with me, that's fine. I won't force you."

"Good," I said, _harrumphing_ lightly, shrugging my shoulders triumphantly.

"But, you've got to find another way of entertaining me for the night," She said, her heart stopping, star-shining grin in ample affect as she spoke to me.

"I don't think I _have_ to do anything for you," I managed to grumble out, looking at the ground beneath me.

"Oh come on," She said, sounding genuinely disappointed. "I'm the only one putting any effort into forming this friendship. I'm starting to think that maybe you just don't like me."

"I don't even really know you," I said, looking back at her. Her light blue eyes glittered against the dark, black night like sapphire stars. "And for that matter, you don't really know me."

"I'm Serana Lee Abadeer," She said, standing in front of me. She stuck out her hand and said; "I'm eight teen years old, the second of two children, a freshman in college. I barely graduated out of high school and I've got an overbearing parent who often can't keep their nose out of my business. I'm an aspiring musician, a side writer and someone who just wants to live their life without regrets. Good to meet you."

"I'm Kelsey Lucille Pillion," I said, taking her hand in my own. The electricity felt like a lightning bolt this time, threatening to make me pass out. "I'm twenty years old, a junior in college, one of three children, graduated high school with average grades. I don't play any sports, but I used to play soccer. I've got a parent who doesn't care enough and a parent who cares too much, and it's always created a strange dynamic in my home. I don't really have any real aspirations yet, but I'm hoping I'll become inspired someday. And hopefully, make a lot of money."

"Eyes on the prize, eh?" She said, with a playful grin. She reached up to her hair and pulled a hair tie off of her wrist that I hadn't noticed before. In a few quick motions, she twisted her long hair into a big messy bun on top of her hair, much like I had seen her wear before. "Well, now we know each other. So, what do _you_ do for fun?"

"Fun?" I said, frowning as I thought. "I don't really know. I'm more of a solitary person."

"Solitary, huh?" She said, her smile only growing. "So was my mom, at some point. Nothing wrong with being independent. We can always just go for a walk. See the scenery?"

"Sure," I said, unopposed to the idea. I shrugged lightly, kicking at a pebble. I couldn't help but wonder why she was choosing to spend the night with me, out of anybody else in the world. But I wasn't going to question it. "That sounds fine."

"You're still suspicious of me, aren't you?" She said, bending at the waist to lean over and look at my face. I blinked at her, looking up. She bent back up, her hands behind her back and smiled. "I bet you're wondering why I'm hanging out with you instead of staying with my friends, right?"

I blinked at her again, twice, wondering if she was reading my mind. She stood in front of me, her black hair shining against the moonlight. Her blue eyes were like a lighthouse, guiding me through the dark, sparkling with playfulness and amusement. Her pale skin stuck out against the blackness of the night. Her bare feet stood on the ground, rocking from her heels to her toes and back again, as she tilted her head while she looked at me. A few straggling hairs fell to the side with her.

"Well, yeah, I mean, we haven't really known each other that long," I said, after a long moments of silence. I looked back down at the ground, kicking another stray pebble, my hands in my pockets. "It's not like I'm very interesting, anyways."

"It's because you have this lonely look in your eyes," She said, blunt and honest. I looked back up at her, a deep frown settling on my face. "I don't know. There's just something about you that kind of makes me want to give you a big hug and tell you that you're not alone. Even if I just met you."

"Are you confessing to me?" I said, with a small snicker. She laughed with me, shaking her head lightly.

"I wouldn't go _that_ far," She said, her laugh ringing in my ears like soft bells. "But I would like to be friends. Even if you don't think you're very interesting, I think I can prove you wrong."

"Is that a bet?" I asked, raising an eyebrow with a smile. "That's an almost impossible task you're setting yourself up for."

"Seriously?" She said, her laugh even brighter than before as she leaned her head back slightly. "You're awfully self-degrading, aren't you?"

"If that's another way of saying realistic," I said, with a shrug and a grin, unable to stop myself from smiling. "I'm just telling the truth. Trust me."

"Trust you?" She said, raising an accusatory eyebrow as she began to take steps backwards. Without even thinking, I found myself walking with her. "I barely _know_ you."

And so, we began walking, with only the moonlight and light grey sidewalk guiding us. She was a little bit hectic, jumping from topic to topic faster than I could even think. She could jump from talking about the weather to asking me my opinion on 'popular music these days' at the drop of a hat. Sometimes I would be confused how the conversation had suddenly taken a 180 in another direction, and just look at her before I could come up with an answer.

She was kind of spazzy too. Something on her body was always moving as we walked. Sometimes she started bouncing up and down on her toes, other times she was doing tiny little dances with her fingers. Her head was kind of always snapping around, as if she was surveying the area.

I think the most distinct feature on her, however, was the fact that she _never_ stopped smiling. Sometimes she wouldn't be looking at me, and I'd say something, and she'd just turn around with this huge grin on her face. Like whatever I had said had been the most awe-inspiring, funny, amazing thing she had heard since the day she was born. And all I had told her was that I had had a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch the day before. Her eyes were always glittering, and happy.

At some point, after we had been walking for about an hour, she turned to look at a house with a surprised look.

"Oh," She said, raising her eyebrows.

"What?" I said, looking at the house, trying to figure out what was so interesting about it. It was a normal, simple house. It was white, two stories high, with a small porch.

"This is my place," She said, laughing. "We must've walked at least 3 miles."

"Your place?" I asked, as we stood in front of the house. "Aren't you a freshman?"

"Yeah," She said, tilting her head to the side as she spook, like a puppy. "Oh, right. Most freshman are supposed to stay on campus, right?"

"Yeah," I said, frowning. "So…?"

"I've technically got a dorm room, I think," She said, shrugging. "They gave me a single, so I just decided to live with my brother instead."

"You have a brother?" I asked, somewhat surprised. For some reason, she seemed like the single child type.

"Yep," She said, popping the end of the word off her lips. "An older brother. Graduated three years ago. He's getting his graduate degree here."

"Ah," I said, with a small nod. "And so he let's you stay at his house."

"Well, he's actually not here most of the time," She said, with another small shrug, smiling. "He's a real lab rat, almost never leaves. Not quite sure what he wants to be, but he _loves_ sciency stuff. He'd probably live in a lab, if he could."

"I take it you're not as into 'sciency' stuff?" I said, laughing at the word.

"Oh, god no," She said, in mock horror. "I _hate_ science. I don't get it, one bit. Makes zero sense to me. I'm a music person. Music and science? Not exactly the same thing. At all."

"No, I guess they aren't," I laughed as she spoke. She looked at me, with this odd smile on her face, before she spoke up again.

"Do you want to come inside?" She asked, pointing a thumb towards her home. "I mean, I'm not really going to walk all the way back to the party, and I can't let you walk around late at night all alone."

"Oh, I'll be fine if I walk back," I said, not wanting to intrude on her personal space. I knew she was being polite inviting me inside, but there was no way she actually wanted someone coming into her home so late at night, without any kind of prior warning. "It's not too far."

"That's ridiculous," She said, rolling her eyes at me. She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out her key ring. "I'm not asking anymore. Come inside."

"I… well, okay." I said, unsure of how to argue with her. To be honest, I really did want to just go to bed, and I couldn't guarantee I wouldn't fall asleep on the walk back. "As long as you promise you aren't a serial killer, leading me inside to murder me."

"I promise," She said, holding a hand on her heart as she walked towards the front stairs of her home. I, tentatively, followed her, the wooden boards creaking underneath my feet as we approached her front door.

In one swift motion, she turned her keys and opened her door. We walked in, the home dark. There wasn't a single light on. She led me through the house and I followed closely, not wanting to lose her in the dark. She turned to look at me over her shoulders, and I could see her eyes even through the darkness.

"My rooms right here," She said, leading me into a room to the right of the main hallway. She flicked on a light, and I blinked painfully.

"It's… a little more pink than I thought it would be," I said, honestly. Sure enough, her walls had been painted bright bubblegum princess pink. The comforter on her king sized bed was white, with several pink and white pillows. Her bed was pressed against the wall, underneath a rather large window. Her drapes were black, stark against the rest of her room.

She had a desk pressed against the left most wall. A laptop was sitting on top of it, along with several different school supplies. Next to that was a small assortment of instruments; A ukulele, two guitars (one red and acoustic, the other white and electric, sitting next to a small amplifier), a banjo, a drum set and what looked like a didgeridoo. There were a couple posters on the wall, all of different bands. All Time Low, Walk The Moon, Cage The Elephant, Foster the People, Forever the Sickest Kids and TEAM.

"You can sleep on the bed, if you want," She offered, moving to a closet door on the right. She opened the door and pulled out a blanket and extra pillows. "I've got an air mattress in here I can use."

"No, that's ridiculous," I said, shaking my head. "I'm a guest here. I can take the air mattress."

"Well, I'm the host," She said, raising an eyebrow at me. She reached back into the closet and pulled out the air mattress and a pump. "And I'm going to be courteous to my guest and take the air mattress."

"You're not _seriously_ going to be that polite, are you?" I said, in disbelief. "That's a little bit absurd."

"What's wrong with being polite?" She said, with a small pout on her lips. "I'm just trying to be nice. Are you _seriously_ going to fault me for wanting to be kind?"

"Well, no, I guess not, but-" I started, uncertainly.

"Oi, oi, oi," She stopped me, shaking her with vigor. "No buts. Besides, the air mattress is actually pretty comfortable."

"Fine," I said, sighing with defeat.

"Awesome," She said, her face brightening with her small victory.

"Are you from England?" I suddenly asked, taking a seat on her bed.

"Ah, the accent," She said, smiling at me. "Well, technically no, I'm from an area close to England. My mother is English, however, and we visit there pretty often."

Xx

Xx

I woke up the next morning slightly confused and disoriented. Looking around, I realized I wasn't in my bedroom. My room wasn't this pink, at all. I lifted the blankets from my body, sweating lightly. I blinked sleepily, taking in my surroundings.

"Uhm, who're you?" A deep, masculine voice called from the doorway. My head snapped up, surprised, as I looked at the man standing at the door. He was tall, well over six feet, with broad shoulders and muscular arms. His strawberry blonde hair was cut short along the sides of his head, sitting about an inch high on top of his head. The strands of his hair moved upward and back, suggesting careful combing and grooming. He had dark brown eyes, like milk chocolate, hiding underneath thick almost black eyebrows. He had a small beard on his face, wrapping around his mouth loosely and crawling up his jawline.

He was, by all meaning of the words, good-looking. He looked like he could easily be a model or an actor or _someone_ famous. He was wearing a simple cotton pink t-shirt and a pair of white jeans. His feet were bare, soft against the wood floor. Had I not been otherwise inclined, I might've been ridiculously attracted to him.

"I'm Kelsey," I said, tentatively. I frowned, looking at his face, suddenly realized who he looked like. "I'm a friend of your sister."

"Well, I assumed so," He said, raising an eyebrow. The sides of his lips twitched and I wondered if he was holding back a smile. "You're sleeping in her bed. She doesn't normally let people in there. Surprised you didn't get the air mattress. Must've taken some talking into for you to convince her to let you get the bed."

"No," I said, frowning again. "She insisted I sleep on her bed. I even told her I'd take the air mattress."

"Is that so?" He said, his lips finally giving way to a small smile. "You must've really charmed her, eh?"

"I wouldn't really know that," I said, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. His eyes seemed to glitter with knowledge of something I didn't understand. I saw him take a deep breath in. "I just met her last night."

"Ah," He said, his face splitting in a huge boyish grin. My heart stopped for a second, finally understanding what she meant when she said it was a family trait. He looked me up and down, looking as though he wanted to laugh. He patted the doorframe and chuckled. "Well, do take good care of my baby sister. Not that she needs it but… well, I think she'd appreciate someone looking after _her_ for once."

"Nathan!" I heard her screech from somewhere down the hall. "Stop antagonizing my new friend!"

"New friend?" Nathan said, testing the words with amusement. " _Luktar mer som en kompis än en vän, lillasyster. Du skulle göra klokt i att minnas att jag kan känna lukten av värmen_."

" _Jag vet knappt henne , okej_?" She snapped back, easily. A thick, easy accent came from both of them, and I found myself incredibly lost. " _Försvinn härifrån , kommer du att skrämma och förvirra henne , och jag försöker få henne att stanna kvar en stund! Åtminstone tills jag kan övertala henne att inte vara rädd för blodiglar_."

"Okay, okay," He said, holding up his hands as he laughed. He took a quick glance at me, and grinned again. "I get it. I'm leaving."

"Honestly," She huffed, annoyed as she walked back in the room, a frown on her face. It was at this moment I noticed she had brought a tray, with a plate and glass of milk on it. There was scrambled eggs and pancakes on it, as well as a small thing of syrup. "He's so annoying sometimes, older brother or not."

"What language was that?" I asked, surprised that she could speak another language so fluently.

"Swedish," She answered easily, walking in and kicking her bedroom door shut. "My family lived in Sweden for a couple years. It's not too hard to pick up."

"I can barely speak English, so I highly doubt that," I said, sleepily rubbing my eyes. She placed the tray in front of me, with a smile. I looked at her, confused. "Is this for me?"

"Yeah," She said, smiling happily. "I got up early and thought you might be hungry when you woke up."

"You… you made me breakfast?" I said, the girl's kindness confusing me.

"You're hungry, aren't you?" She asked, she sat down at the foot of her bed, with a happy smile on her face. "Eat up."

"Aren't _you_ hungry?" I asked, frowning.

"I already ate," She said, shrugging. "I've been up for a while now."

"What time is it?" I questioned, wondering how long I slept.

"10 a.m." She answered, beckoning with her hand for me to pick up my fork and eat my food. "Come one, eat. People gotta fuel themselves to live."

"Oi, don't force me," I said, furrowing my eyebrows. "That's too overbearing."

"I wasn't trying to force you," Serana said, her eyebrows shooting up in alarm. She held her hands back and said; "I'm sorry. I was just trying to encourage you. I seriously do want you to eat, since I don't know when you last ate."

"You know, you're awfully considered for my health," I said, picking up the fork and taking a bite into the fluffy pancakes. They were _delicious_ and I hummed in happiness. It was around that moment I realized I hadn't eaten since I had lunch yesterday, around 3 p.m. Between mouthfuls I managed to say; "Are you normally this considered for other people you just met?"

"Honestly?" She said, tilting her head to the side. "I don't really normally _meet_ people. I mean, I've got my group of friends and they're hard enough to handle. So… I suppose the answer to that question is _yes_ but also no."

"So what made you decide that you want to extend your circle to me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, I don't exactly scream ' _fun times_ ', do I?"

"No, not really," She said, laughing lightly. Her laugh sounded like fairies dancing against the tips of my ears and made my toes scrunch up. "But… well, something about you seemed interesting."

"Interesting?" I said, only more confused. "Like what?"

"You were reading _Jane Eyre_ in the library," She stated, scratching the back of her hand. "And you looked pretty comfortable while reading it, which means you've probably read it more than once."

"Okay, so I'm a bit of a nerd," I said. "How is that interesting?"

"No, no," Serana said, shaking her head. "Well, maybe, I don't know you all that well yet. The point I was trying to get at was that normally uninteresting people wouldn't like a book like that. It's too complicated for them, too old. Only people who like to think and have some degree of imagination like to read books like that. And with thinking and imagination comes creativity. And, usually, the most creative people are, by far, the most interesting."

"Yeah, and they're normally the weirdest too," I said, a low laugh rumbling in my chest. She smiled at me, with a small chuckle.

"But, you know what?" She said, her eyes sparkling. "Most of the time, the weirdest people are the most memorable."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Well, hello, hello.

I'm going to assume that this is a 'hello again' and if not, welcome. I would suggest, however, that you go back and read _IJYPB_ , even if you just quickly skim through the chapters.

It's been so long since I've been on this site. My life has been pretty hectic. I've been doing work here and there, but my mind could never fully leave this universe. I was already writing a sequel in my head before the original ended, and I just couldn't leave well enough alone.

Updates, unfortunately, will be highly sporadic and inconsistent. Sometimes, I may update 3 times within a week, other times you might not see a new chapter for a month or two. However, know that I am working.

It might, also, be pleasing to know that I've already detailed and outlined 13 chapters. That's not _really_ going to affect how often and when they come out, but I do have an organized idea of where this is going. And, I promise you, this will be just as good, if not better, than the original FF. It's got everything you loved about the first (romance, action, weird story line, interesting characters, plot development) times four. And I haven't even finished outlining yet. (Also working on editing chapters better, lol)

As with the previous piece of work, please leave comments for me! Whether complaints or criticism or compliments! I will respond to all of them in the next chapter, if you post them before I update.


	2. Chapter 2

I forgot to do this last chapter, but I will try to add a small list of songs I listen to while writing this. Honestly, this time around the songs aren't _entirely_ relevant to the chapter (if at all). You don't have to listen to them, of course, but sometimes it helps set a mood, idk. And let's be frank; who doesn't love listening to new music?

Bastille – (I Just) Died In Your Arms

Bastille (Ft Ella) – No Angels

Bastille (Ft Gabrielle Aplin) – Dreams

Joe Brooks – Someday

Echosmith – Bright

All Time Low (Ft Joel Madden) – Bail Me Out

All Time Low – Cinderblock Garden

The Madden Brothers – Dear Jane

OoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOo

 _Serana Lee Abadeer_

Tell you about myself? I mean, I guess I can, but I don't understand why you can't just go back in the cabinet and pull out my document. After thing about me is back there.

You wanna do a good job? You're just an assistant, dude. My _mums_ assistant, nonetheless. She could tell you more interesting things than I could.

Okay, _okay,_ I get it. Yeesh, no need to get so pissy. So tell you about myself, right? Before or after what happ-

Okay, okay, _okay_. You're trying to summarize the story so it's easier to find, and that requires backstory about some of us before we start. I get it. _Yes_ , I'm going to cooperate. Look, am I the only one that has to go through this? No?

Excellent.

I was born in the year 2145. What year was it when everything started? 2164, I think. Yes, I was nineteen years old, you knew that. Okay! I get it, you're just trying to get every detail down. What is this, anyway, some sort of audio recording? Okay, okay, I'm staying on task, yeah.

I was born to two mothers, Bonnibel Bubblegum and Marceline Abadeer. You might wanna edit my part a bit, because they're both mom and mum to me. It'll be confusing if they don't know one from the other. On it? Okay, cool beans.

The two had met in 2013, while [Bonnibel] had still been in high school. [Marceline]? No, she had been through high school more times I can count by that point. [Marceline] was thousands of years old by then. She had been mostly a solitary person before then, bu-

Oi, this isn't going to work if you keep interrupting me. How did she live thousands of years? Oh. Right, that's an important part, I guess.

Marceline Abadeer was the esteemed _Princess_ of Vampires. She, her brother and my grandfather (her dad) made up the royal family at the time. Her mom, my grandma, had been killed some thousands of years earlier, but if you wanna know more about that you're going to have to go read the documents from before. And then she got resurreceted and some stuff but, once again, you wanna know about that, read some other documents. The whole ' _Sons of God and Satan'_ debacle. Sounded like it was a real mess. Not like I would know though, I wasn't there.

[Marceline] was one of the original vampires, along with the rest of her family. She was one of three pureblood vampires, and she would occasionally attend a human high school to keep herself familiar with mortal customs and such. And then she met my _other_ mom, Bonnibel-

Ew. No. That is disgusting. Say one more thing sexual about my mother, and I will rip your head off. Or… well, I guess maybe like a leg or something. Oi, shut up, right _now_! I can get up and leave if I want, you do know that, don't you?! Yeah, I bet so. So shut up and let me finish.

She met [Bonnibel] while attending a human high school. They were almost immediately attracted to each other, like a moth to a light. If that moth also wanted to ravage the light apart like a piece of dead meat. But that moth has tremendous self control, and instead decides to ravage the light in a completely different way. _Ugh_. I cringe just thinking about it.

So, a whole adventure happened with them. Wasn't much of an adventure, if you ask me. They left the their town all of _maybe_ three times. Me, I went all over the pla-

Okay, okay, yeah, I'm not supposed to talk about my story yet. Whatever.

Okay, I don't _really_ need to tell the whole story about my parents, do I? Like, honestly, if you really wanted to know everything, just go back and read about it. Its not that hard.

Awesome. Okay, let's start from when I was born. I already said when I was born? Oh, alright. Well, just let me talk about myself, okay? Godammit, you're so difficult sometimes.

I was the second born child in my family, after my brother, Nathan Abadeer. Why was his name Nathan? Apparently [Bonnibel] had liked some band when she was younger, around my age, and the lead singers name was Nathan. Nathan Rush or something like that. Didn't matter much to me, they were long dead by now. Didn't need to know band members names to appreciate their music.

My name? Oh, this is rich; My name comes from a video game character. Which game? I don't actually remember, skyedge maybe, but [Marceline] told me that she named me after her because it was ironic. She was a vampire princess, too, with black hair and red eyes. [Marceline] said I looked a bit like her when I was a kid, with shorter hair than I have now.

I suspect that not much had changed since my parents had been kids… well, since [Bonnibel] had been a kid. Seeing as how my mum was now in charge of… the progress of the universe, I guess. She prefers things to stay the same, until she seems necessary change. That whole bit is kind of complicated and confusing, but I can't explain it or else I'll give away part of the story.

My brother Nathan was born 5 years before me, he was 25 before everything happened. He was a huge nerd, just like [Bonnibel]. He was a science freak, always trying out new experiments and testing random theories. Never made much sense to me, always thought it was kind of stupid and pointless considering that we broke the very laws of nature in and of ourselves. But he was convinced he was going to figure out the science behind _us_.

I never really knew _why_ it mattered to him, at all. Who cares how we work? We work, don't we? That's all that matters to me. My legs move, my arms move, my head thinks. My heart may not beat, but it's fine since I don't need it. And I could artificially make it beat, like when we had to do school physical exams and stuff.

I grew up mostly in a castle, my mums castle, just outside of England. We lived on a remote island, covered in mist, that normal mortals wouldn't be able to find. Franklin used to call it _Leech Island_.

A great deal of the vampires lived on the island, in small towns around the castle. We (My extended family and I) did a fine job of making sure there was always cattle (cows, pigs, horses, etc) around for our people to drink, trying to wean the dependency on human blood. There was a significant effort in an attempt to prevent our numbers from growing; humans would catch on if there was too many of us.

I grew up on that island with my parents, my brother, my uncles and my cousins. We all shared one huge castle that was really more like a mansion with the exterior of a castle. The inside was kind of just a normal home. Gigantic, but normal. We housed a few lesser vampys too, and a handful of strays here and there.

Until I was eight, I was homeschooled by my mother. Nathan expressed an interest in studying abroad, so him and I were moved to Sweden to live with my grandmother and grandfather for five years. My mothers visited often, probably fearing that one of us would become as angry and bitter as my grandmother. You see, a while ago, [Marceline] turned my grandma into a human for a bit.

I think she's _still_ pissed about it, even though [Marceline] turned her back into a vampire somehow… minus all the power she had had before. My grandfather was a kind and gentle soul, I don't think he could've hurt a fly if he wanted to. And he was so in love with my grandmother… it was kind of confusing actually. I don't think there were more two opposite people in the world, and yet, they managed to function together.

Nathan graduated from Swedish gymnasieskolan at the age of 18, having extensively studied the natural sciences. It was then that he decided he wanted to attend college in the United States.

My parents decided to send him to the same college [Bonnibel] had graduated from. Not wanting to be left alone in Sweden, with no one but my grandparents, my parents sent me to live with the Wolfes for four years. I went to high school with their son, Franklin, as well as Kathleen and Derrick.

My high school years had been fun, but uneventful. Derrick and Franklin were star athletes, captains on the football, basketball and lacrosse teams. Kathleen had been a four year all-american and three year captain on the soccer and lacrosse teams. I had played soccer, a sport [Marceline] used to love. My mom would often come visit me and watch my games. I had to ask her to leave a couple times, though. She had a tendency to get rowdy and loud.

Outside of my close knit group of friends, I didn't have anyone I was particularly close to. I mean, I had friends, other people I could hang out with, but none of them were my ride or dies. It was kind of hard to be really close to normal humans when you couldn't even tell them about the fact that you could sink your teeth into their neck and kill them within a minute, and convince them to be okay with it.

Derrick and Franklin graduated first, in my sophomore year, and then Kathleen. I followed the next year, and we all went to the same college as Nathan. Eugene and Dean also decided to attend, having been homeschooled for 18 years. I think they were getting tired of listening their dad, Gumball, who acted as their home schooler.

And so started, my freshman year of college.

Xx

Xx

 _Kelsey Pillion_

"You want to watch some netflix tonight?" Chelsea asked me, slipping onto the couch beside me. I was sitting on our somewhat dirty brown couch, in our living room, my laptop sitting on top of my legs. I was going through some random buzzfeed articles, happily half-closing my laptop to listen to my sister. "I'm in the mood to hang out."

"What happened to Derrick?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She shrugged, her face neutral. "Not asking him to hang out?"

"Meh, there wasn't any attraction, you know?" She said, scratching the side of her cheek with thought. "He's a great guy, he's funny and nice. But we both agreed there wasn't any _pull_. We're still friends. Speaking of Derrick, however, I heard _you_ met some of his friends that night of the party!"

"His friends?" I asked, frowning. A lightbulb went off in my head and I realized who she was talking about. "Oh. You mean that group of people. Kathleen, Franklin, Eugene and Dean…"

" _And_ Serana," She said, wiggling her eyebrows salaciously. "She's totally your type. And I heard that she thinks your pretty cool too."

"There's no way," I said, shaking my head. "I mean, I haven't even talked to her since then. It's been almost a week."

"Well, did you give her your phone number?" Chelsea asked. I shook my head. "Twitter handle? Instagram? _Email address_?"

I shook my head at all of the above, frowning. Maybe not the smartest move on my part, but how does one just _give_ someone your phone number without asking for it.

"You're clueless," Chelsea said, shaking her head. She pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket and I heard the light taps of a message being typed out. "I'm giving Derrick your number so he can give it to her."

"What? No!" I said, horrified. "That's going to seem desperate!"

"You _desperately_ need to get a clue, hunny," She said, rolling her eyes as she hit send. I heard the wooshing sound come from her phone, and gulped. "Even if she doesn't want to get in your pants, she wanted to be your friend. Derrick said that she told me she was disappointed when you wouldn't even let her walk you home."

"I didn't want her to bother," I mumbled, feeling myself flush. "It's a thirty minute walk."

"Which she would've happily done, just to get to know you better," Chelsea said, sounding exasperated. "Derrick said that she thought you were one of the most quirky people she had ever met. And apparently, when she says quirky, it means she likes them."

"Quirky is just another word for weird," I said, scrunching up my nose.

" _Good_ weird," Chelsea said, over-emphasizing the word first word. "Come on. It wouldn't hurt to have a couple new friends, considering most of yours up and graduated."

"I _have_ other friends here," I said, folding my arms with a huff.

"Yeah?" Chelsea said, raising an eyebrow. "Name one."

"George," I said.

"You mean the barista who knows your order by heart?" She said, laughing. "You can hardly call that a _friend_ , Kelsey."

"Shut up," I grumbled, sinking into my comfy sweatshirt. "We have a personal connection?"

"The fact that he knows you get a carmel mocha latte with extra foam and a shot of skim milk _does not_ mean you have a personal connection," Chelsea said, laughing and giving me a small playful shove. "But I can damn well bet you've got a personal connection with miss tall and gorgeous."

"I wouldn't even know," I said, frowning. "We hung out for all of two seconds."

"Oh come on, we both know you're just in some weird denial," Chelsea said, rolling her eyes yet again. "Just admit it."

"I think I'm going to go get some coffee," I said, standing up as I changed the subject. I grabbed my wallet from the coffee table and made for the door. "You want anything?"

"I want you, to stop avoiding the subject," She said, frowning as she got up too. She quickly followed me to the door and, with an innocent smile, said; "But I also wouldn't mind if you treated me to some coffee."

"…fine," I said, with a small sigh. "You're lucky I love you, you big nut."

"Love ya, too, sis," She said, blowing me a kiss as she grabbed a jacket from the hook. We exited our apartment and she turned to lock the door. "Oi, remember, we gotta be back within an hour. Quinton's moving in."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I said, nodding my head. "The coffee shop's only two blocks away. It's not going to take an hour."

"All I'm saying is, is that sometimes you get distracted," Chelsea said, holding her hands up. "Hopefully there's no new painting up, or some fun, cool mural. Or a squirrel. You like those too."

"I _don't_ get distracted by squirrels!" I snapped back, miffed. "They're cute, though, alright?"

"I never said they weren't," Chelsea said, with a girly giggle. "Honestly, Kelsey. You're so defensive today. Must be because I brought up S-"

"Do _not_ finish that sentence if you want me to get you something," I growled, marching on ahead of my sister. We had walked down the stairs that led up to our apartment door, and were on the sidewalk now. The coffee shop was a ten-minute walk, at the most.

It was a beautiful day out. The sun was shining, but not so hard that it made me break into an automatic sweat. The sky was blue, and littered with only a few fluffy clouds floating towards the left.

Chelsea and I exchanged idle banter as we walked towards the coffee shop. She told me how she was already on the search for her next flame, considering that Derrick was supposed to be her rebound from her last relationship. An awful guy, with a god complex, who wore sunglasses inside _and_ at night.

She talked about how excited she was that classes started again, and how she couldn't wait to start all of her child development classes. She was studying to be a kindergarten teacher, for what reason completely escapes me. I couldn't handle a single child, let alone a whole classroom full of them.

We talked about our younger brother, Quinton, who was going to a freshman this year. He had come later because our parents had wanted to do some last minute school shopping with him, despite the fact that he was coming to live with college veterans. When I had told my parents about the maneuver Serana pulled (the very next day), they were more than happy to send him to live with us.

" _I don't particularly want my son living with a stranger, so this is perfect_ ," My mother had told me over the phone. " _You never know who you're going to get. He might've gotten a serial killer or a master manipulator. Best he stay with you guys, people I can trust._ "

Quinton had always been the favorite, a fact neither Chelsea nor I could ever be particularly mad about. He was adorable as a young child, with light reddish hair and a chubby face. He was a fat baby, with rolls for days. He only really started growing into it when he was three years old.

We walked into my favorite coffee shop ten minutes after we had left our front door, the smell of coffee beans and pastries filling my nose. It was a little hipster coffee shop, that had been made inside a house. It was full of bean bag chairs, some bookshelves and a shelf for board games.

I walked right up to the counter, smiling as I saw my regular barista standing at the other end.

"Hey there, Kelsey," George said, with a smile on his face. He wore his normal brown apron, and a pair of ordinary jeans. "The regular?"

"You know it, George," I said, with a small satisfied smile directed towards my sister. "Thanks, bud."

"And for you, ma'am?" George said, turning to my sister.

"Oh come on," She said, rolling her eyes, jokingly, with a small smile. "I come here just as often as her. How could you not know my order too?"

"I only work mornings, ma'am," He said, laughing lightly. "You must usually come after 10 am."

"Well… yeah, that's true," She said, with a small approving nod. "I'll take a large coffee… black. With a tiny pinch of sugar, please."

"Coming right up," He said, with a smile. As he spun around to get our coffee's, I heard the ding and buzz in my pocket meaning I had received a text. I took my phone out of my hoodie pocket and looked at the screen.

.

 _[Unknown Number]_

 _TURN. AROUND._

 _._

"What?" I mumbled under my breath, confused. I turned to look over my shoulder, seeing a figure walking towards me, dressed in a black hoodie and black jeans. Their hood was raised over their head, covering their face. "Seriously? Who are you? And can you _not_ mess with me. It's 8:30 in the morning."

"Jesus, dude," A familiar voice said, from underneath her hood. "You're supposed to get scared."

"Serana?" I asked, blinking at her as she removed her hood. Her long black hair came cascading out of her hood, tied up in a high ponytail. "What on Earth are you doing here?"

"I heard a rumor this was the best coffee spot in town," She said, her light English accent still just as endearing as it had been the first time I heard it. "If you're hitting it up, it must be pretty damn good."

"It's a gem that's for sure," I said, frowning while I looked at her. "But who did you hear about this gem from? I mean, it's pretty hidden away, most people don't even know about this place."

"A little birdie told me," She said, with a small meaningless shrug. She smiled, her tilted ever so slightly to the side, swiftly changing the subject. "So, how's your week been?"

"Uh, eventful, I guess," I said, scratching my chin. "Finished moving into our apartment. Decorated my room."

"Ah," She said, with a nod. "Sounds… well, tedious. Not really that fun."

"Well, no, it wasn't all that fun," I said, with a small laugh. "I'm relieved to be done."

"You must be Serana Abadeer," Chelsea said from my side. "I'm Chelsea."

"Ah, Derrick's friend," Serana said, with a knowing nod and a kind smile. She extended a hand and said; "Yeah, I'm Serana Abadeer, at your service."

"I'm Kelsey's sister," Chelsea said, shaking her hand with a light giggle. "In case you can't tell."

"You guys have similar faces," Serana noted, wagging a pointer finger at us with the hand she hadn't offered to my sister. She stopped her finger on me. "Except this one is much more freckly. It's endearing, cute."

"Oi, flattery isn't going to get you anywhere with this gal," Chelsea said, laughing. "Treat her to some coffee, maybe."

"Well then," Serana said, with a smile, walking past me. She went up to the counter and pulling out her wallet. "This one's on me."

"Oh, you don't actually have to do that," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder, trying to prevent her from paying for her. A small bolt stabbed my palm, soaring through my nerves, into my heart. "Seriously, I can pay for my own coffee."

"Nonsense," She said, throwing down two twenties. "Enjoy your free coffee ladies."

She turned to the barista, George and ordered a drink, slipping him an extra twenty with a smile.

"Are you seriously okay with just throwing money around?" I said, scrunching up my nose. "You just spent sixty dollars in a _coffee shop_."

"I have a lot of spare money," She said, raising an eyebrow. "Old family, old money. Cheeky, isn't it? You wouldn't think me to be a wealthy bastard, would you?"

"Well, I didn't think you were _poor,_ " I said, frowning. "Must be nice, having so much indispensable money to simply throw into a gutter."

"I don't throw it into a gutter," She said, laughing. "I use it on things I think are important."

"And you decided that my coffee was important?" I said, my frown only growing. "You're kind of weird."

"I'll take that as a compliment," She said, her smile only growing. "I've always described myself as _quirky_."

"Oh good Lord," I said, rolling my eyes.

"You live long enough, you'll learn that the Lord is not all that good," Serana said, taking a seat at one of the high stools, with an easy smile. "Or so my mother says. I've only been alive nineteen years, and I'm an atheist."

"Kelsey and Chelsea!" George called out. We walked over and grabbed out steaming hot cups of coffee, with their sleeves to prevent us from being burnt. He smiled at us as we got our coffee. "Have a good day, ladies."

"You, too, George," I said, with a nod and a small smile.

"Are you guys heading off?" Serana said, cheerily watching us.

"We have to, unfortunately," Chelsea said, with a little shrug. She looked at her phone and said; "We've got to be back home within the next thirty minutes. Our brothers coming to move in."

"Brother?" Serana said, raising an eyebrow. "You guys have a brother? Must be an awful good looker, eh?"

"He's always been popular with the ladies," I said, pursing my lips. "Don't tell me I said that, though. It'll go right to his fucking head."

"Well, wait a moment," Serana said. I turned to look at her and jumped when she was right behind me. "Sorry."

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed, surprised. "How did you move so fast?"

"I just walked over, like a normal human being," Serana said, quickly. She brightened as she changed subject. "You can't bring in a new resident without a welcome party, can you?"

"Serana! Your order's here!" George called. Serana walked over, grabbed her coffee, and opened the door for us.

"Perfect," She said, with a nod towards us. We walked out. "I'll see you guys soon! Oh my lord, what is that?"

"Wha-" I said, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She pointed to something in the opposite direction, and my sister and I turned to look. "There's nothing there…"

We turned back, confused, only to find that Serana has vanished. I blinked around, confused.

"Where did she…?" Chelsea started, baffled. "How did she move so fast?"

"Is that… is that even humanly possible?" I said, in disbelief.

Xx

Xx

My sister and I were sitting in our living room, watching _Vampire Diaries_ and sipping on our coffee, when we heard our front door open.

"Hello?" My brother's friendly voice came from the front hallway. "Are my sisters here?"

"Quinton!" Chelsea shouted, with excitement. She placed her coffee on the coffee table and bolted towards our front door. "Do you need help with your bags?"

"Oh, no, it's fine, I've only got a few," Quinton said, her shoes lightly tapping against the tile floor of our walkway. I got up from my spot and went to see my younger brother.

I turned a corner and saw my brother and sister in the walkway, my sister closing the door.

"Hi, Quinton," I said, with a smile.

"Kelsey! What's up?" He said, cheerfully, with his childish smile he'd had since he was a baby.

My brother was about the same height as me, with medium-length'd dark red hair that flowed around his face like a halo… of hair. He had bright green eyes, much like my own, but softer. His skin was light and creamy, like the kind of stuff you would put in your coffee.

He was wearing a normal light blue t-shirt, hugging his arms, accenting the muscles he had on his body. He was wearing a pair of skinny white jeans and dark blue nike shoes. He had a beanie on too, dark grey. He was holding several bags, a huge hiking back pack and a couple suitcases in his hands.

"Your room's going to be back here," I said, pointing him in the direction. His room was down the hall, past mine and past Chelsea, next to the bathroom. I opened the door for him and he put his things down. "Your stuff was sent here a short while ago, Kelsey and I took the liberty of setting it up like your old room. There's a few things we didn't know what to do with, they're in the boxes in your closet."

"You'll love it here, Quin," Chelsea said from behind me, holding her hands behind her, rocking back and forth on her heels. She had a smile on her face; I could hear it in her voice. "I can't say for sure that the classes are amazing, but you've always been a scholar, so you'll love it here. And there's always a party, somewhere. The people here are awesome. Speaking of the people-"

"Oh for the love of," I mumbled underneath my breath.

"One of _Kelsey's_ friends wants to throw you a welcome party," Chelsea said, happily.

"Really? Why?" Quinton said, sitting down on his bed and looking back at us. "I thought all of Kelsey's friends graduated."

"Exactly what I said," Chelsea gave a small snicker. "But no, she made a _new_ friend. Her name's Serana, and she's got this group of frie-"

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Expecting someone?" Quinton asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhm… no…" I said, frowning, as I turned to return to the front door. The doorbell rang again and I hurried my footsteps. After not even five seconds, there was banging.

"OI!" A male voice called. "Open up in there!"

"Who on Earth…?" I grumbled underneath my breath, annoyed. I reached the front door, grabbed the silver doorknob and swung open the door with annoyance. "Honestly do you know anything about common dece-"

"Kelsey!" A happy voice said. I was greeted to the sight of six young adults, standing in the cramped porch right in front of my door. A hulking huge boy with blonde hair stood at the front, carrying several boxes of pizza. I saw Serana's head poke out from around him, with the same grin that made my heart beat. "How you doing? Can we come in?"

"What are you doing here?" I said, frowning in confusion.

"Derrick?" Chelsea said, poking her head out from behind me. With an excited squeal she demanded that they come in. "Come on, don't just leave them standing outside, Kelsey. Come in, come in."

"Don't mind if I do," The boy, Derrick, said. He plodded in, looking around the large stack of pizzas as he stepped.

"Hey there, roofie," Eugene said, laughing as he walked in.

"Managed to stay out of trouble?" Dean said, his laugh echoing his brothers.

"Yes, I haven't gotten into any trouble," I said, with a small sigh, stepping to the side to let the people in.

"Don't mind them at all, dude," Kathleen said, patting me on the shoulder. "They're famous for being annoying little fuck boys. Honestly, just ignore them. That's what I do half the time."

"Your words cut through my heart, as always, my dearest lady friend," Eugene said, holding a hand over his chest, with a fake pout.

"Like a silver dagger," Dean said, chuckling. He pat Franklin on the chest and said; "Aye, those are _especially_ painful."

"Yeah," Franklin grumbled in a low voice. "I know."

"He knows?" I said, pursing my lips as I pointed to him in confusion. I gave Serana a look. "He knows? How, exactly, does he know?"

"I hope you like Smirnoff!" Serana said, not answering my question, holding a large 'clinking' brown bag. "Because I brought ten bottles!"

"My _younger_ brother is under age," I said as she put an arm around my shoulder. That familiar shock ran through my body, unpleasant but pleasant at the same time. "He's only eighteen."

"Please, sister dearest," Quinton said, rolling his eyes with a laugh. "As if I hadn't had a drink before."

"Quinton!" I said, gasping. "Mom would have my head if she knew I was letting you drink."

"It's a good thing I've never let her find out," Quinton said, standing in the hallway just before his room, his arms crossed. I saw his eyes glide over Kathleen, approvingly, causing me to roll my own eyes.

"Your place is bigger than it looks," Derrick said, placing the pizza's down on the kitchen table. The kitchen and living room were attached, the only thing diving them a six yard wide archway. "Me and my crew won't have any problem fitting in here. Man, I was worried, from outside it looked like a bit of a tiny place. And let me tell you something, I am _not_ a tiny dude."

"Derrick, you're beginning to ramble again," Chelsea said, patting him on the arm. "You're not very cute when you do that."

"Ah," Derrick said, with a 'football quarterback four year captain' kind of smile. It had it's own charm about it, I admit. "My bad."

"Please, my big jock of a cousin is never 'cute'," Kathleen said, laughing. "He's the Hulk."

Derrick _was_ a pretty big guy. He was shorter than Eugene, Dean and Franklin, but still tall. His arms were gigantic, like they could crush a watermelon with little effort. He had blonde hair, blue eyes and a boyish face, giving him an almost angelic appearance.

"I am _adorable_ ," Derrick said, with a laugh. "But enough about me! Who's the man of the hour?"

"That'd be me," Quinton said, raising a hand. He was sitting on the arm our long living room couch. Our guests had taken to standing around the living, except for Kathleen, who had made herself at home, sprawling across our love seat. "It's nice to meet all of you."

"Welcome, welcome!" Serana said, happily clapping her hands together. "Welcome to our humble school!"

"You're a freshman too," I said, the edges of my lips slipping downward. "Shouldn't we be welcoming you?"

"Same!" Eugene shouted, holding a hand up.

"Ditto!" Dean exclaimed, holding a hand up as well.

"I'm more than happy to share the attention," Quinton said, laughing. "I was brought up to learn how to share."

"We both know that's a damn lie," Chelsea said, chuckling darkly as she opened a box of pizza. "What would Mom think if she saw you now? Generous and kind?"

"What kind of pizza is there?" I said, with a final sigh, giving up. I wasn't particularly keen on people invading my personal space, my home, but it seemed like neither of the two inhabits were upset about it. So, I decided to leave it be.

"What kind do you want?" Serana said, standing behind me. I jumped, slightly, not having realized she had been there. "I'm kind of particular to that supreme kind. You know, the kind with everything on it."

"Oh," I said, blinking slightly. "That's my favorite kind too."

"Really?" She said, with a bright smile as she leaned over. "You want a piece?"

"I can get my own pizza, I'm not helpless," I said, walking over to the kitchen table.

"Nonsense," Serana said, quickly stepping in front of me. "We invaded your home. The least I can do is grab you a piece of pizza."

"Three pieces, please," I said, with another sigh of defeat.

"Hungry?" Serana asked, taking out a large thing of paper plates from her bag. She opened a pizza box and began pulling pieces apart.

"I'm starving," I said, with a small shrug. "I haven't eaten all day."

"I'll be damned if I let you starve," She said, handing me a plate with three pieces lay on top of each other. She smiled at me, with that 'Abadeer' grin. "Eat up, princess. I spent a hundred dollars on this damned pizza. I'll consider myself screwed over if we don't eat all of it."

"As if that's a problem for us," Dean said, rolling his eyes with a grin. "You've got a lacrosse playing and two soccer playing young men in here. Plus, you eat like a cow too."

"It's not very flattering to call a girl a cow, James," Serana said, scrunching her nose up.

"James?" I said, tilting my head to the side.

"James Dean," Serana verified. "Most of the time we just call him Dean, though."

"Come to think of it," Kathleen said, eyeing Quinton from across the room. "We haven't all introduced ourselves, have we?"

"That's right," Eugene said, tapping his finger on his chin. "Kelsey's the only person in the room who knows who we all are."

"I'm Kathleen," Kathleen said, leaning forward to the space in between herself and Quinton, extending a hand. Quinton took it, with a glint in his eye and a smile playing on his lips. She matched it with her own long lashed, half-squinted eyes, as if she was sizing him up. "Kathleen Merten."

"Derrick Merten, her cousin," Derrick said, pointing to his cousin. "Though, we might not look much like it. Her dads my dads brother."

"I'm Eugene," Eugene said, rustling his hair with a hand, apparently trying to tame an itch. "Eugene Abadeer."

"I'm his brother, twin brother," Dean said, smiling at Quinton, politely. "Dean Abadeer. Technically James Dean, but people usually just call me Dean, as we just covered. We're Serana's cousins."

"This is Franklin Wolfe," Kathleen said, pointing to the furry looking young man. He was sitting in one of our kitchens, throwing back a bud light as Kathleen introduced him.

"Howdy," He said, with a small wave. He wiped some foam from his beard, and I could see some teeth under it forming a smile. "Franklin Wolfe. Not related to anyone here, but my dad is Derrick's adopted brother, so we're almost like cousins."

"And I'm Serana Abadeer," Serana said, standing next to me. "I'm your older sisters new friend."

"I can see that much," Quinton said, slowly tearing his eyes away from Kathleen. She lazily looked back at us too, picking at her fingernails. "Well, I'm Quinton. Quinton Pillion. I'm the youngest sibling but the oldest brother."

"And I'm Chelsea," Chelsea said, sitting on the kitchen counter, her legs swinging back and forth. "I'm the second oldest daughter. But only by a couple minutes."

"Another set of twins?" Dean smiled that charming grin his family had. "That's pretty rad."

"Want to know a really weird fun fact?" Serana said, throwing herself onto my living room couch. "My mom and his dad are twins, too. And our others parents are twins. We're, like, _almost_ brother and sister."

"Ah," I said, with a small nod, sitting at one of my kitchen tables. I took a bite of my pizza before speaking again. "That explains how you guys look so much alike. It was a little weird for cousins to look almost identical."

"Well, you've seen Nathan, haven't you?" Serana said, making a face at me that looked somewhere in between amusement and pain. "He looks exactly like those two. Strawberry blonde hair and all."

"Wanna know another fun fact?" Eugene said, with a small snicker. "Dean only got that hideous moustache to try and not look exactly like me."

"It makes you look like a pedophile," Kathleen added, with raised eyebrows and a small smirk. "Hide your kids, ladies and gentlemen."

"I do _not_ look like a pedophile," Dean snapped back at his friends. This only caused them to laugh harder. "I'm just waiting for the beard to grow in, alright? It'll go away soon."

"You've been trying to grow a beard since the sixth grade," Eugene said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye.

"I think you've still got quite a few years before you get to Franklin's level, mate," Serana said, hooting with laughter.

"Oi, stop!" Dean said, pouting like a small child as his friends continued to harass him. "My _father_ doesn't think it's stupid."

"I'm sure Uncle Gilroy is just saying that to make you feel better," Franklin said, with a small chuckle.

"Oh, come on, not you too, Frank!" Dean whined.

"We're just poking fun at you," Derrick said, throwing a ping-pong ball at his younger friend. I hadn't even noticed he had opened a small pack of six until I saw them lying on the table.

"So whose up for a couple games, yeah?" Serana said, with a brilliant smile. She stood up, clapping her hands together, shrugging her shoulders up and down in excitement.

Xx

Xx

 _Serana Lee Abadeer_

It was about 8 o'clock and I reckon we had been there for well over seven hours. Not that I wasn't having a great time. Quite the contrary, I probably could've stayed there for another seven, maybe another seventy. We had moved out to the wooden porch they had on the back of their apartment. They had put a picnic table out there, and a couple tiki torches. Lucky for us, they were on the highest floor, so we got a fantastic view of the sky.

Lucky for me, as well, that I had remembered to put on my limiter this morning, as well. It often doesn't bode well for me when I spend extended periods of time outside, without it. My mothers and uncles were a different story, they had been along for a quite long time now. They had accumulated a resistance to it. I suspect my mother had probably worked some odd magic to help them, too. She, however, never offered to extend the same courtesy to her only two children. It would be another fifty, sixty some years before I could be outside for a long time without feeling drained and weak.

"You, my friend, are _epic_!" Dean said, his arm loosely hanging around Chelsea's neck. He was holding a beer in his hand, pointing a wiggling finger at her, with a grin on his face. "I mean, you _kicked_ him? In the bloody _nuts_? You weren't scared he was going to retaliate?"

"Would _you_ be able to?" Chelsea said, laughing just as loudly as he was. "Should I show you just how hard I can kick?"

"No, ma'am, highly unnecessary," Dean said, with a hearty laugh. He pat his chest with his bottle hand. "I prefer to keep my future children swimming and functioning."

"You're a dirty little pervert," Eugene said, punching his brother in the stomach, lightly. Dean grunted, dropping his beer, spilling it all over his twin brother. "Oi! Watch where you're swinging that!"

"You're the one that hit me," Dean said, squinting at his brother, annoyed. "Don't complain about things that are your own fault."

"Yeah?" Eugene said, with an angry look on his face. "Don't complain about your stupid pedophile moustache, then. I mean, you're the one who leaves it like that instead of shaving it."

"I don't complain about my moustache!" Dean countered. "I complain when people make fun of my moustache, which is not my fault. You lot are just fucking rude."

"Or," Eugene said, challenging his brother, holding his head high. "We're just brutally honest."

"That's just a pretty way of saying unnecessarily discourteous," Dean spat back.

"Shut _up_ ," I finally chimed in. It seemed I was truly the one who had been listening to them. Derrick and Franklin were playing a game of beer pong with Quinton and Kathleen. Chelsea was in some sort of daze, just going along with whatever was going on, and Kelsey… was nowhere to be found.

"That's not very nice," Eugene said, frowning.

"Shut the _fuck_ up," I added, with a fake smile. "There's a reason Marshall wanted you guys out of the house."

"My daddy loves me," Eugene responded, before turning pale. He ran to the balcony and doubled over, puking over the ledge.

"Lovely," I mumbled underneath my breath, with a frown. _Where did my new little friend wander off to, I wonder?_

With that thought, I turned on my heel, tired of looking after my cousins, and walked back inside the house. I heard the kitchen sink running, and I smirked. With my inhuman speed, I was behind Kelsey in a second, watching with interest as she was washing dishes. Her phone was plugged into a small speaker on the counter, a few inches away, playing something with a lot of percussion drums and dramatic ambience.

"Am I really that boring?" I asked, pouting behind her. She whirled around, surprised. Her eyes widened, suddenly scared, and her heart was racing. I could feel the hot breath she released after she gasped. "I would've come in and helped you, you know. If you had asked."

"Oh my god," She said, holding a hand over her heart. I could hear her blood pumping through her veins and it took everything inside of me to keep my fangs from peaking, even with my limiter on. _Something_ about her… seemed so incredibly delicious. I wanted nothing more than to **bite** into her. But I suppressed it as she spoke again, the sound of her voice soothing my very soul. "Jesus Christ. How did you sneak up on me like that?"

"I'm very sneaky," I said, with a grin. I heard her heart-beat pick up, if that was possible, and my breath felt momentarily labored before I was able to regather myself. "I'm like a ninja. Albeit, a ninja with an English accent, but a ninja all the same. Can I help?"

"Oh, no, it's fine you don't have to," She said, shaking her head. I could smell her hair, confined to a messy bun on top of her head, as she did. It was something like… heaven.

"I'm not asking if I _have_ to," I said, frowning at her. I saw that there was a dry dishcloth tucked into her sweatpants waistband, and I snatched it. "I'll dry?"

"Well… alright, if you really want to," She said, with a shrug. As she turned from me, I saw the beginnings of a small smile. I grinned. "I'll clean, you dry."

"Like a well-oiled machine," I said, standing next to her. I listened to the music, closing my eyes for a second as I recognized the song. "Is this… _Bastille_?"

"It _is_!" She said, suddenly turned to look at me, in complete and utter delight. "You've heard of them?"

"Well, I mean, yeah," I said, blinking in surprise. I could practically feel her aura light up in happiness. _Bring up Bastille more often…_ "My parents have a ton of old music in their house, like albums. I mean, they're kind of super retro, but they're cool."

"They have _albums_ ," Kelsey said, in awe. She turned back to her sink, viciously scrubbing away at a plate. "I thought most people stopped making those."

"Most did," I responded, with a small shrug. "My parents, my mother actually, enjoys collecting antique things. Says they remind her of a better time."

"Remind her?" Kelsey said, her eyebrows furrowing in thought. She handed me the plate, and I got to drying. "Is your mom, like, two hundred years old or something?"

"Well, no," I said, laughing at the irony. "But she acts like it, sometimes. When she's not behaving like a two year old."

"Must be a mom thing," She responded, laughing. I held the plate up, silently asking where it went. Her forest green eyes caught mine, for a fraction of a second, and I thought I might implode right then and there. She looked around me, turning somewhat red, and pointed. "Top cabinet, to the left."

"Excellent," I said, licking my lips yet again, the urge to sink my teeth into her getting almost unbearable. I put the plate in the cabinet, on top of a small stack of others, just as she handed me another object from the sink. I took a quick look, mentally memorizing where everything was. Something caught my eye, and I felt an amused smirk saunter its way onto my lips. "You've quite the assortment of shot glasses."

"Those aren't mine," Kelsey said, with a small sigh. "They all belong to Chelsea. She collects them. For what reason, I don't know. I wouldn't touch them, though. She'll bite your head off."

"She has so many of them, but doesn't use a single one?" I said, turning back to Kelsey with astonishment.

"You've never collected anything, have you?" She said, laughing. "I'd say it's more of a mental defect than a habit."

"That's an awfully _nasty_ assessment, isn't it?" I said, my own chuckle rumbling in my chest. "Harsh."

"Stick around me long enough, and you'll find I can be much nastier," She said, with a small, insincere laugh. "Mean, mean little Kelsey."

"Wow, that got rather… dark." I said, my smile quickly turning into a frown. My eyebrows knit themselves together and I set my dishcloth down along with the bowl she had handed me not too long ago. I looked down at her, tilting my head. "Are you… okay?"

"I… am perfectly fine," She said, a small drip of bitterness seeping from her words.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I said, feeling the drop in the atmosphere.

"No," She responded, shaking her head fervently. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Well… that's simply not true," I said, trying to lighten her mood with a smile. She looked up at me, with an odd look. "We could talk about… well, we could talk about what you're planning to do when you graduate. Have anything particular you might want to do?"

"I want to make a lot of money, for sure," She said, pursing her lips. "Can't get very far without money."

"Well, let's say you had all the money in the universe," I said, picking up my rag again, resuming the dish drying. "Don't you have a dream?"

"I… I think I'd like to travel the world," She said, her voice somewhat wispy. I saw a small smile on her lips from the corner of my eyes. "I want to see what the world has to offer, I suppose."

"Like an adventure?" I questioned, interested.

"I guess," She said, thoughtfully. "I'd… I'd like to see how beautiful the world could be, you know? To remind me that even as cruel and ugly it can be… it can be still and amazing. My mother, when I was a young girl, took me to this one spot. High in the mountains, remote. She had us walk there, just me and her. Took us a little over a week to walk all the way up there, she carried this heavy backpack with her the whole time. I tried to pick it up for her once, but it weighed more than I did, easily. It felt like a boulder."

"Ah, well, quick note," I said, with a smile. "Don't get into a fist fight with your mum."

"No, definitely do not," She said, with a genuine, pure laugh. The sound filled my head with little angelic pixies, lightly brushing my brain with some sort of yellow flower. Weird metaphor, but that's what it felt like. "But, she walked that whole week with it. I carried the tent on my back, wasn't too heavy. She kept telling me the whole time 'it'll be worth it when we get there, Kelsey. I promise'. I started thinking she was definitely lying to me, there was nothing that could be worth this damned walk. It was over ninety degrees the whole time, we were slowly beginning to run out of water, and my mother insisted that it would be _worth it_."

"Well… was it?" I asked.

"It was worth more than I could have even imagined," She said, dreamily. "She brought us to this waterfall, near the top of the mountain. The water was so clear I could almost see all the way to the bottom. The rocks around that little lake were white, like ivory. The plants… the trees and bushes and everything were so green. It was unlike anything you could ever imagine."

"I bet I could imagine some small bit of it," I said, eyeing her. She looked at me, her green eyes bright, in confusion. "Your eyes, love. They're probably the perfect kind of green."

"That's… the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me," She said, with a small frown.

"You need to meet some nicer people, then," I said, laughing. "Or, perhaps, keep me around for a long time. I've been known to be quite the sweet heart, here and there. I can pay you a compliment once in a while, if you so wish."

"You don't have to force yourself," She said, rolling her eyes with a playful smile. She stretched her neck ever so slightly, likely having a crick in it from looking over the sink for so long. My canines poked out from my gums, uncontrollably, and I made to rub the outside of my mouth. I fake a small yawn.

"I wouldn't be forcing myself," I said, earnestly. "You've got some strange kind of self-esteem to think that there was little about you worth complimenting. Because I can look at you for less than five seconds and find ten things to compliment."

"Yeah?" She challenge, frowning at me. I felt my canines recede and I removed my hand from my face. "Fine. Ten things. Go ahead. Try."

"Well, your eyes are number one." I said, with a small grin. "Your hair reminds me of fire, reminds me of warmth. It's very comforting, but also dangerous, kind of like your personality it seems. Plus, you've got this adorable little alfalfa sticking up out of your hair, one I'm assuming had been bobby pinned down in our previous meetings because it looks like a rather permanent little bugger."

"Ah! My alfalfa!" She sighed, rubbing her hair. She frowned, seemingly embarrassed.

"I think it's cute," I said, with a smile. "It's quirky."

"That's only three things, you lose," She responded. "Should've figured there wasn-"

"Your skin is this milky creamy color, I think most people would _die_ for," I continued, quickly. "You may see your freckles are blemishes, but I, and many other people, think they accentuate you very nice. Make you look very… genuine. You've got nice thin arms, but not too thin. I can tell you do some physical activity from the muscles on them. I can't really tell what's underneath your shirt, but it seems as though you've got a nice flat stomach. I'd warrant you'd have one of those appealing little dips underneath your belly button… judging from the way your face just heat up as you rubbed your stomach, I shall assume I'm right. You've got dainty but long fingers. An underappreciated, but still appreciated, feature. Your legs are nice and long, and toned. Just like your arms. You've got cute little ears that I can see when you put your hair up like that. A little elf-like, but cute, all the same. Need I go on?"

"Ok, no, no, please stop," She said, her face firing up like an oven. She looked down and away from me, embarrassed. I grinned in triumph. "It's actually embarrassing have you point out all these things. I didn't think you'd find more than two things."

"And therein lies the issue at hand," I said, lowering my head. I leaned over to take her chin with my hand, steering her to look me in the eyes. "The tone if your voice suggests that I am simply flattering you. You don't believe me. Look into my eyes and tell me; do I look like a liar?"

"…no." She said, with a sigh. "You've got the same eyes as my mom. Like you'd burst into flames if you told even a white lie."

Suddenly, we heard the back door fling open, and the sounds of wet kisses and small moans.

"Oh my god," She mumbled, in horror.

Footsteps slowly made their way down the hallway, and with a raised eyebrow, I made to look at who was making so much noise. Kelsey followed behind me, with a heavy frown and an annoyed glint in her eyes.

As I turned the corner, I couldn't help but snicker. There was a small trail of clothes from the back door, two shirts, three socks, a sweatshirt, to the offending couple.

"Kathleen's always been a little bit of a skank," I said, low. "Always looking for a good shag."

"Same as my brother," Kelsey said, turning away as Kathleen began to shed her underwear. "Oh my god."

"Oi, Kathleen, don't make too much noise," I said, wagging a disapproving finger at her. She looked over Quinton's shoulder and flipped me off, before pushing him into his room.

"Does she?" Kelsey asked as I walked back into the kitchen. She was leaning against the table with a slightly tired look on her face, her arms crossed. A few stray strands of hair were falling over her face, and she blew them away.

"Does she what?" I asked, giving her a confused look.

"Does she… well, you know." She said, eyeing the direction of her brother's room.

"Does she… _oh!_ " I said, with a sudden laugh. I shook my head before offering my condolences. "Unfortunately, you're going to be hearing that damsel for however long your brother can keep her going."

"Brilliant," She said, sighing heavily. "Can't wait to listen to that all night."

"You don't have to," I said, with a small shrug. "You can sleep over at my place, if you want. I mean, if that isn't really weird."

"As tempting as that offer actually is," She said, giving me a small smile. "I think I should stay, at the very least make sure my sister doesn't die of alcohol poisoning."

"Ah, right," I said, with a small nod. I smoothed some of my hair back, running my fingers through the pitch-black strands, with a sigh. "At least let me stick around and help. You can kick me out once everyone's safe."

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that," She said, shaking her head. I frowned before she looked back at me, a shy smile on her face. _**Bathump**_. "You can sleep over. I mean, if you want."

" _You're_ inviting _me_ to sleep over?" I said, with a grin. I swallowed, unsure of what that strange feeling in my chest had been. All I knew was that it had been physically painful, but not unpleasant. "I thought it would take at least another four months before you'd find me friendly enough."

"I find you so friendly that it's a bit frightening, actually," Kelsey said, laughing. "Do you have some sort of ulterior motive?"

"Hmmm… maybe… maybe I'm a vampire," I said, with an ironic smile. "And I'm setting you up so that, someday, you'll let me suck your blood."

"Blegh," she said, sticking out her tongue. "I hate that term. 'Suck your blood'. It sounds so… _blegh._ "

"Would you prefer I said 'drain you until your dry'?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Bleed you until you've not a drop?"

"I'd prefer if you simply didn't," She said, raising her own brow back at me. "If you'd just ask, I'd let you take a bite."

"Seriously?" I said, with interest. "You'd just let a vampire sink its teeth into you?"

"If they were polite about it, maybe," She said, with a casual shrug. "As long as I didn't die, they don't need to die either. Or, well, you know, go hungry. I'm a charitable soul."

"Hmmm," I hummed thoughtfully. "I bet you are."

"Oh my god," Kelsey said, in horror, as a ragged moan escaped her brothers room. She turned and marched into another direction. "I… am escaping to my own room. And putting some music on."

"Am I free to follow?" I said, cautiously.

"Why wouldn't you be?" She asked, looking back at me with a frown. "I already said you could sleep over."

"You were serious?"

"No I was joking," She said, her face deadpanned as she looked back at me. After a moment, she shook her head, with a small playful snort. "Yes, I was serious, you can sleep over. My rooms down this hall."

"Hmmm," I hummed, my belly pleasantly warm with some unknown feeling.

"You know, actually, my room connects to this small little roof, it's really cool," She said, smiling sweetly at me.

"Sweet," I said, returning her smile with one of my own.

Xx

Xx

 _Nathan Gilroy Abadeer_

I _hated_ being in charge of the area here. Yeah, sure, I was the fourth in line to take over the crown, behind the reigning King, my mother and my uncle. But that didn't mean I ever intended to be. My family is _immortal_ for fuck's sake. My mother and her brother killed the fucking child of God Almighty and Lucifer.

If they died, all fucking hell would break loose. I highly doubt I would be able to control that.

Anyways, I _hated_ being in charge. I came to school to _learn_ , something my younger sister was never going to fully appreciate. I found something interesting so I wanted to learn about it. Does it _really_ matter how important it was? She liked music. Was music going to change the world, save lives? _Physical lives_ , not the metaphorical ones her and my mom used to ramble out, back when we all lived at home.

No. I was a scholar, and I wanted to use my time to indulge myself in my studies. But when there were occasional loose vampires, running around and killing without cleaning up after themselves, who had to deal with it? Me. Not Serana, who was busy doing god knows what. Not Eugene or Dean, who were probably too busy arguing with each other, having a pissing match, to actually pay attention. So, it was me. Me, because I was the oldest and most responsible. Who the fuck cares? It takes an imbecile to not be able to handle this.

Oh right? I was _surrounded_ by imbeciles. Don't get me wrong, I love my family. My sister means the world to me, I would take a bullet for her. A hailstorm of bullets, even, and that bloody hurts.

It was moments like these, however, that frustrated the living hell out of me, metaphorically speaking. I had been working in the lab, late night. It was about 3 a.m. when I heard my phone go off, causing me to sigh. I was studying an aggressively cancerous cell, rapidly multiplying at a rate of-

Never mind, that wasn't important. I got a call, and pushed my microscope to the side, annoyed. I rubbed my eyes, forcing my glasses up as I did so, before I lifted my phone to see who was calling me.

 _Mum_

 _Marceline the Vampire Queen_

"What?" I growled as I placed my phone against my ear.

"Oi, is that anyway to address your mother?" Her voice growled back. I could tell she was wearing an angry frown. "Try again."

"What do you want, Mother," I said, tersely. "I was in the middle of something."

"It's 12 o'clock in the morning, what on Earth could you have possibly been up to?" She snorted. "Oh! Were you getting laid? I'm so sorr-"

" _No_ , Mother!" I quickly said, rubbing my thumb and pointer finger in between my eyebrows. "I was in the middle of an experiment."

"Figures. It's going to be another thirty something years before you do." She said, sounding disappointed. "Just like your mom. You're almost a spitting image of her."

"She had sex with you when she was eighteen," I pointed out, my face twisting in disgust as I said it out loud.

"You're not going to find someone as charming as I," She said, laughing. "By the way, that was disgusting. Please _never_ talk about the two of us like that. Ever. Ugh. I'm shivering."

"Mum, what did you want?" I said, impatiently. "You never call to just banter."

"No, I certainly don't. Get enough of that from your mom. More like arguing. Leads to some rather intense angry sex." She said, laughing again. It abruptly stopped, and I heard a shout. "Shit. She heard me. I'm going to be in trouble for that. Anyways, I did call you with a purpose. Some rogue blood suckers in your area."

" _Seriously_?" I sighed, unhappily. "And, what, you want me to deal with it?"

"Doesn't have to be immediate," She said, probably with a shrug. "You can kill them, if you want. Just do it sometime sooner than later. They're feral, I think. Rip their hearts out, leave them in the sun, I don't care."

"There's feral vampires and you want me to just get to it, _whenever_?" I asked, sighing heavily. More heavily than I had already been doing, because this was about my twentieth sigh since our conversation had begun.

"I tried calling your sister, but she wont pick up her damn phone," She said, sounding somewhat annoyed on her end. "I'd just do my fancy vampire magic teleport over and handle it myself, but some fucking wolves just showed up at my door looking for a fight, and they don't even know who Jake or his family is. Which means, I gotta wait for a Wolfe to show up, and you know how good they are at punctuality."

"Fine, I got, I got it," I said, sighing _yet again_. "Any idea where I'll find them?"

"Honestly, you don't have to do it right now," She said. "You can wait till you see your sister, get her and your cousins to do it. There's a fair amount of them, and I know you hate getting dirty in a fight."

"I'll fucking do it," I said through my teeth. "Just tell me how to find them."

"Aye, touchy, touchy little leech," She said, clicking her tongue. "You're not going to get ladies like that, young sir."

"I'm going to hang up soon." I said.

"I'm going to send you their scent." She said, with a small disappointed sigh. Within a couple seconds, a putrid smell filled my nostrils, with no source. "Get it?"

"My god. That's awful." I said, half-choking on the smell.

"You got it," She said, half-laughing. "They wont be too hard to find. Go get 'em, tiger."

"Whatever, I'll handle it," I said, and hung up. I sighed, rubbing my eyes with my thumbs, beyond tired. I was exhausted, and all I wanted to do was finish my research.

But, of course, that wasn't going to happen. I sighed again. Perhaps my anger was mostly coming from my extreme fatigue. I hadn't eaten or fed for at least two days and I hadn't slept in three. I wasn't always this grumpy, although it seemed more to be the case more often than not these days. I sat up from my seat and stretched, with a small yawn.

It didn't take very long to track the scent. It was awful and there were definitely several of them. My hands were snuggly tucked into my jeans pockets, my boots crunching against a few stray leaves that had fallen from their trees. I was walking through a close by park, only a ten-minute walk away from campus.

I could smell the feral vampires close by, feeding on some poor fresh victim, likely about five hours deceased. I let out a deep breath, fighting the vicious vampire side of me that wanted to kill them and eat whatever was left over.

I turned and walked away from the path, towards a cluster of bushes and low trees. I found them there, their fingers ripping into the flesh of a dead body. They were huddled around it, five of them, like it was a campfire, furiously devouring whatever piece of meat they could get their ugly little hands on.

"Oi," I said, my hands still in my pockets, scratching the back of my left calf with my right foot. They all turned to look at me at once, surprised.

"This… this is _our_ catch," One of them said, in a raspy voice. Their eyes were small and beady, glowing an ugly dirty, tainted red. "Leave us alone."

"Unfortunately, no can do," I said, with a small shrug. "Nothing personal. I'm sure it's probably not your fault you're like this, but I'm not allowed to let you run around like this."

In a swift movement, I was behind them. They blinked, unable to react to how fast I moved. I grabbed one of them by their heads, my huge hands able to palm the top of their skull, and proceeded to force my other hand through their chest, ripping out their heart.

They gave a small, desperate gurgle, and I crushed it's head for good measure. The rest of them jumped, surprised, and proceeded to try to run away.

"Ah, ah, ah," I scolded, my eyes glowing bright as I tapped into my magic, putting up a barrier preventing them from leaving the area. "Sorry. I can't let you do that."

I was covered in a few small blotches of blood when I was finished. I had thrown the bodies into a nearby dumpster, lit a match for good measure and proceeded to leave the park as their bodies burned. I looked down at my grey t-shirt, frowning with thought. I couldn't go back to the lab looking like I had just murdered someone. Which wasn't inaccurate, but still.

I began walking back to my house, hoping that Serana was sleeping and wouldn't smell me when I walked in. She hadn't the smell of ferals even more than I did. "Like cooked mushrooms that've been left out for _way_ too long" was how she described it. With a hint of dog crap.

The night was dark, and it was easy to see the stars in this area. There weren't too many tall buildings with bright lights, meaning the stars were really the only way of seeing where you were going. The moon hung above the world at half crescent, probably a relief for Franklin and Finnick. The two of them tended to get a little cranky the closer we got to a full moon.

There were only a few people walking around, most of them drunk. I passed by them without any thought, ignoring them if they attempted conversation. Along the way I passed by a small apartment building that was blasting music. I heard shouts and laughs coming from it. My best guess was that they were all out of their minds, in a complete stupidly drunk stupor. I took a deep breath, meaning to make my breathing regularly, and stopped my feet.

My mouth fell into a small frown and my eyebrows furrowed. I could smell my sister and her friends.

I walked to the apartment building, sighing as I bent my knees to jump up. Lucky for me, the building was only a few feet away from the building next, so I figured I could just climb up. In a swift movement, I forced myself off the ground placed my foot against the buildings wall. I pushed off the wall and repeated the action against the opposing wall.

In a hop skip and a jump, I was standing on the roof of the building. I scratched my neck as I looked over the edge where all the shouts were coming from. There I saw my two younger cousins, a girl I didn't know, and Franklin laughing hysterically at something. There were cups all over the place and the wooden deck was _soaked_ in alcohol. Eugene could barely stand up for more than two seconds without falling over and Franklin was dancing with a lamp. I furrowed my eyebrows further, not seeing Kathleen or my sister.

A breeze blew by and I caught another scent coming from the right, just under the roof; my sister and another. Someone familiar but something I wasn't quite able to put my finger on it yet. I walked over, quietly, and peeked over.

My sister was lying on the roof, looking at the sky, and immediately caught me as I tried to stealthily check on her. She was laying next to another person, the girl that had been at our house a week ago. I smiled, realizing what was going on.

"Oi, what are you doing here?" My sister hissed, by my side in a split second. I turned my head, raising my eyebrow and smiling.

"You're with her again," I said, knowingly. Her frown deepened.

"Yes, I am spending time with my new friend," She growled at me, her eyebrows tightly knitted together.

"You _like_ her," I simply said.

"Yes, I think she's an interesting person and could be a fun person to hang out with," She said, pursing her lips together.

"No, no, _no_ ," I said with a small laugh. "You _like_ her. As in _like like_."

"Are we two?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes at me. "There is no such thing as _'like like'_."

"Yes there is," I said, her frustration only making my smile grow. "And you're experiencing it. For your new _friend_."

"I would really _like like_ for you to leave." She said, baring her teeth at me. I rolled my eyes lightly, the action not intimidating. She'd been doing it to me since we were little kids, there was no actual threat behind it. "Why are you even here?"

"Our dearest mother had to call me because _you_ weren't picking up your damn phone," I snapped back, my previous annoyance remembered. "I had to stop my experimenting to go deal with some damn ferals that _you_ were supposed to deal with. But you didn't answer our mother, so then she told me to do it."

"My phone died," She said, with a small shrug. "Besides, it was just a couple ferals. You could've just texted me and told me to do it tomorrow night."

"And let them kill another innocent person?" I snarled at her.

"Okay, whatever, fair point," She said, twisting her lips. "But they wouldn't come out at day. They can't."

"It doesn't matter," I hissed, massaging my temples with my fingers. "It doesn't matter. I handled it. And _I'm_ going home. I haven't slept in three days."

"You should get something to eat, you look hungry," She said, looking at my eyes.

"Let me take a bite from your friend," I said, licking my lips hungrily. Her eyes glowed bright with anger and she bared her teeth at me, for real. I stepped back, holding my hands up. "I was kidding. Geez. And you say you don't _like like_ her."

"Go _home_ ," She huffed, and she was gone.

"Man, what stick got up her butt," I mumbled to myself.

" _I heard that_ ," She hissed back at me, in a shout whisper. " **Leave**."

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving," I said, laughing as I jumped down the building and began walking back in the direction of my home.

OoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOoOo

I hate writing the starts to stories, truth be told. I've always been awful at it. If things seem boring now, I promise you, things will pick up within the next chapter two. And if things _don't_ seem boring now… well, things are going to get even _less_ boring soon.

I say with absolute certainty that this tory will be different than the last. Not without all the quirks that (I awesome) you guys love. Romance, drama, supernatural violence, some weird fucking characters. Trying out a few different things, more POVs, different story progression. I do hope that I'll do a better job of being sensible and not just throwing random thoughts together.

The ending of the previous story was very confusing, even for me. There were no definite, no one was probably 100% sure of what happened directly _after_. While it was unintended to be so confusing, I think that gives me a little bit more flexibility in my writing of this story. For now, what the crew did immediately after the events of the first story is up for interpretation. Bits of history _will_ be revealed throughout the chapters, but for now, all you can do is wonder.

 _The Hypocritical Dreamer_ : Glad you enjoyed the first story : ) I can only hope remake that magic, if not, make better.

 _Roses and Poison Ivy:_ And more you will get! Stay tuned, my friend!

 _Yuri Lowell:_ Hello again!

 _Chelsbrick:_ While I don't want to spoil anything, I hope this chapter made things somewhat clearer. I've always kind of sucked at writing the first one or two chapters to a story. This story, while I call it a sequel, is going to be kind of different from the first. It follows the children of the original group, with some newcomers whom you'll meet further along the story. They'll face different challenges than their parents, but the original cast will not disappear entirely. Our beloved originals will occasionally return, if simply to see their children or offer them guidance on their journey to become their own people, to write their own story.

Hope that kind of helps : )

 _The Dark Hound:_ Ah! My good friend, Tony the Werewolf Kind! I look forward to reading your comments once again!

 _jcs:_ And I, good sir or madam, am probably doubly as glad to be back.

 _Abubble:_ SAME!


	3. Chapter 3

Once again, here is the list of songs I listened to while writing, very diverse:

All Time Low – Bail Me Out

Blink 182 – First Date

Blink 182 – Please Take Me Home

Good Charlotte – Motivation Proclamation

Deer in the Headlights – Owl City

LIGHTS – Quiet

Omarion – I'm Up

Jessie J - Sorry to Interrupt

Pia Mia - Do It Again

Five for Fighting – Chances

The Fray – Never Say Never

Linkin Park – Shadow of the Day

 _James Dean Abadeer_

I _never_ beat Eugene at rock paper scissors. I should've thought of another game to see who had to do this, like beer pong. Ugh, this seems boring.

So, tell you about myself, right? My name is James Dean, but most people call me Dean. I was born in the same year as Serana, my brother too. We're twins, me and Eugene, but I'm older by half a minute.

My brother and I were born to Marshall Lee Abadeer and Gilroy Gumball. I say the word 'born' loosely. See, when my parents and aunts were thinking up ways to have children they figured out a way to merge same gender DNA together. For Aunt Marceline and Aunt Bubblegum it was easy; they combine the DNA and then put the child in one of their wombs. There was talk, I think, about how to get their 'systems' reworking. Being undead tends to bring a screeching halt to the menstrual cycle, I hear. That, however, wasn't important to me. My dads did not and _do not_ have wombs.

So, instead of us being physically born, my Aunt Bonnibel and [Gumball] figured out a way to artificially create a womb that we would live in until we were fully developed. My brother and I are very legitimately test tubes babies. Not that it bothered us. It meant our parents couldn't use the 'I went through all that pain of birthing you' excuse for anything, so it was really a win-win situation for everyone.

My dads were two kind of strange guys. Very opposite, like almost complete opposites. [Marshall] is the Prince of Vampires, El Príncipe de Sanguijuelas, as he's so affectionately referred as by one of his close friends. Who's his friend?

Mr. Goat Sucker's what we call him, but most people know him as the Chupacabra. He's not as bad as the locals always made him out to be. Sure, he sometimes ate their goats and livestock. But a man's got to eat, right? Can't blame a guy for getting a little hungry. But that's not really all that important. He _is_ a friend of my dads, though, really close friends with him. Like, since 1980, I think.

My dad, the Abadeer, is the infamous Prince of Vampires. Fabled for his violent actions and known for his overly sadistic nature. Supers all over the world knew about how much he liked to have a good time, to party and unwind, taste the worlds wines and women. Despite all that, he somehow fell for a calm, refined, well-mannered _guy_. Weird, right? It's fine, Eugene and I think it's weird too. I mean, it worked out well for us, but still a little random how fate works sometimes.

Oh. Maybe don't let my dads or aunts see I said that. They get a little testy when 'Fate' is brought up. Long story.

Anyways, my dads had me and Eugene. Eugene and I have been together since the moment our dads picked us up out of our little incubators. We met our cousin within the first minute of our birth, her being a couple days older than us. I can't say we were all fast friends; apparently the first time we all laid down next to each other, Serana punched us both in the face.

Serana covered some of our childhood; we lived on that damned island for eighteen years. We were homeschooled all those years by our father, Gilroy Gumball. He and my aunt Bonnibel had always been known as scholars, with an unprecedented desire to go above and beyond in the quest for knowledge and thirst for unknown.

Eugene and I did _not_ inherit that from my father. I hated our classes, and Eugene slept through more than half of them. History bored us, math confused and science was simply irrelevant. Eugene had no love of reading, but I did find momentary solace in reading a good book. It was more interesting, at least, than the rest of our classes.

We spent most of our time, after Nathan and Serana had left, playing around the giant island. There weren't any normal humans there, so sometimes our parents would bring us inland. Something about 'exposing us' to the smell of humans so that we didn't get too overwhelmed when we were older.

[Gumball] had us doing a lot of community work. Helping feed the poor and homeless, saving stray dogs, cleaning up the sides of highways. Said it gave us perspective in life, saved us from actually being _princes_. Most of the time it wasn't too bad. Eugene and I were never really opposed to menial labor, it was a welcome break from the rigor our father had us pursuing in our library.

When we finally became eighteen, we demanded that our fathers let us attend school off the island. [Gumball] was worried that we'd be cruel and sadistic, like our father had been at our age. [Marshall] didn't seem to particularly care if we were…unpleasant.

"As long as you clean up your own messes," He used to say. "The world is ours for the taking. Take what you want."

He would usually end up getting slapped on the back of the head and yelled at for at least an hour.

I can't say that we had ever picked up on our father's traits. We never had an exceptionally keen desire to kill others. Sure, we'd feed and erase minds, but we never drained bodies like Serana did. If anyone should've been wary it was _her_ parents, not ours.

Xx

Xx

 _Kelsey Pillion_

There were benefits and downfalls to early Monday classes. Pro's, it left more time in your schedule later in the week and it got your classes out of the way so you could take a nap later in the day. Cons? It was a struggle to get up on those mornings, I felt like absolutely _crap_ all day, I could barely pay attention during class and it just all around _sucked_. It was worth it, though, to be done classes by 10 am on Thursday and to have all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday to myself. Or so I told myself.

It was 9:30 in the morning, and I was walking out of my first class (PSY 225). I blinked, not realizing the sunlight had finally reached the world. I rubbed my eyes and removed my sunglasses from their spot on the front of my shirt, moving them to cover my eyes. My backpack felt heavy, though the only things it in was my laptop, a charger for my laptop and a charger for my phone, and a copy of _Lord of The Flies_.

I yawned, exhausted, and stretched my arms over my head with a small moan. I started walking to my next class. The building was located down a rather steep hill and a block away. I couldn't even remember what class I had. I barely even knew where I was walking, as if my feet were remembering for me so that I didn't have to think. A breeze blew by and my hair lightly fluttered with it, still damp from my morning shower.

"Oi," A deep voice called from behind me. I blinked, wondering if they were talking to me, and turned. They smiled. "Long time no see."

"Nathan, right?" I said, giving him a smile in return. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks," He said, the Abadeer grin glowing on his face. I felt my face flush slightly, still unused to it. "Early Monday classes? You're quite the hard worker."

"Meh, more like I just want to get them out of the way," I said, shrugging, with another tired yawn. "It's a lot lazier if you really think about it. More time for me to sleep in."

"Strategic," He said, with a nod and a small chuckle. "Smart kid."

"Kid?" I said, raising an eyebrow with a smile. "I'm not that much younger than you, you know. Geezer."

"Ouch," He shook his head, holding a hand over his heart in mock pain. "Man. That one really hurt. And here I was, just trying to start a friendly conversation."

"What are you doing on campus so early?" I asked, curiously. "Serana told me that you don't leave your laboratory often. Taking a walk?"

"I'm actually about to go gather some supplies and make a cup of joe," He said, laughing lightly. "Even scientists need energy."

"What kind of supplies does a scientist need?" I said, thoughtfully.

"I'm on my way to collect blood samples from the local hospital," He said, putting his hands into his pocket.

"Ah," I said. "Somewhat creepy."

"If that freaks you out, I won't tell you what I'm going to do with them," He laughed heartily. It was at this moment I realized how _good-looking_ he was, for just a normal guy who loved science. He could've easily been a model. He was wearing a formfitting black-tshirt, the muscles on his arms bulging ever so slightly. His shirt just barely clung to his figure, but I could tell that he had at least a six-pack. He was wearing a pair of white pants, his legs long. He had big feet, covered by a pair of brown hiking boots. "My eyes are up here, love."

"Ah, sorry," I said, shaking my head and blinking. "You and your sister are just… well, for a lack of words, very randomly attractive."

"Are we?" He said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. He lifted a pointer finger to his temple, with a smile, and said; "Don't let Serana hear you saying that. It'll go straight to her head. I must admit though, we definitely get it from our parents."

"Your parents must be gorgeous," I said, blushing lightly. I looked down at my feet, fidgeting with the edge of my sleeve. "And I'm just now realizing how kind of weird it is I just said that."

"Don't worry about it," He said, laughing again. "We get it all the time. That and the smile. The Abadeer Grin."

"Yeah, I've been a victim of that several times already," I said, his laugh somewhat infectious. I looked back at him and he grinned. "All of you guys do it. You, Serana, Eugene and Dean."

"You should see when my uncle does it," Nathan said, shaking his head. "What a charmer that man is."

"Your whole family seems a little dangerous," I said, jokingly.

"More than you even realize," He said, his eyes glinting with some hidden meaning. "But, I'm sure you'll learn about it sooner or later. My dear little sister has never been exceptional at keeping secrets."

"Secrets?" I said, frowning.

"Well, not this secret, at the very least," Nathan said, scratching the back of his head as he spoke. "It's a little hard to hide… nature."

"Wha-" I started, only to be cut off by a shout.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Serana suddenly appeared from behind me, taking a step in between her brother and myself. She looked between the two of us before throwing her brother a glare. "You're telling her something you shouldn't be."

"Am I?" Nathan said, playfully amused. "I'd say it's something she deserves to know. But, perhaps, she isn't quite ready for it."

"Stop saying something so shady," Serana said, frowning deeply. "You're going to confuse her. You're telling her about my birthmark, aren't you?"

"Your birthmark?" I asked.

"I've got a birthmark on my stomach," She said, with a sigh. She turned to face me and lifted her shirt, and I near fainted. She had that distinct line on her belly that all fit people had. Her core was toned and defined, without being overly so. Her stomach was flat and… well, breath taking. "You okay?"

"Huh?" I looked back at her face, dazed. She grinned back at me, knowingly, before pointing a long finger at a small area just below her rib.

"There," She said, sighing. It was dark purple, like a bruise.

"Is that… a bat?" I said, squinting while I looked at it.

"No, it's a birthmark," She said, sighing again. "That happens to look like a bat. Go ahead, laugh. It's stupid looking, right? People used to make fun of it all the time, when I was a kid."

"I don't think it's stupid-looking," I said, earnestly, taking a closer look. It was shaped a little bit like the Bat signal, with longer wings and a rounder head. "It's kind of cute, actually."

"Well, as riveting as this exchange is," Nathan suddenly chimed in. "I've got to go. Experiments to conduct. Blood bags to grab."

"Grab dinner while you're at it," Serana said as Nathan began to walk away. He offered us a small wave over his shoulder, and disappeared around a building corner. "You headed to class?"

"Oh, I am actually," I said, suddenly remembering I had class. I looked down at my watch and, with a sinking feeling, realized I only had three minutes to make a ten minute walk. "Shit."

"Something wrong?" She asked, tilting her head to the side questioningly.

"I'm gonna be late," I said, quickly turning on my heel and beginning to walk in the other direction.

"You want a ride?" She said, jutting her thumb in another direction. I looked over, and saw that same motorcycle sitting along the sidewalk. "I promise I'll drive slowly."

"…" I pursed my lips thoughtfully. I sighed heavily and bit down a protest. "Fine."

"Excellent," She said, with a bright smile. I followed her to her bike, an impending feeling of doom looming over me. She handed me a helmet and sat down on her bike. "Hop on, love."

Tentatively, I sat down behind her while slipping the helmet onto my head. I tucked my feet against the leather-padded sides of the bike and buckled the helmet. A nervous gulp made it's way down my throat.

"Where we headed?" She asked.

"Crimson Hall." I answered.

"Hold on," She said, eyeing me, looking entertained. She gestured to her waist, and I frowned. "You're gonna fall off if you don't latch on, sweet heart. Come on now, I'm sturdy. Get a good grip on me."

I slowly snaked my hands around her waist and grabbed my own forearms, my front pressed against her back. She was solid, but soft, comforting in it's own way. Her body felt so strong that I couldn't help but instantly feel some relief.

"Oh my god." I mumbled, feeling the small muscle ripples in her back, through her shirt.

"Something wrong?" She asked, revving her engine.

"No," I said, shaking my head.

"Don't be so shy," She laughed, grabbing my hands and pulling me closer. My face pressed against her back, and I could smell her; mint and fabric cleaner, and a little bit of coffee.

"Oh my god." I mumbled again, flustered. I closed my eyes as I felt the bike begin to move, and her feet left the ground.

I silently sat on the back of the bike, clenching tightly to the slightly younger girl. The sounds of cars driving by and the wheels of the bike's wheels making friction with the ground filled my ears, along with the occasional laugh coming from Serana. I thought I felt a small odd bump come from inside her body, but chose to dismiss it as a bump in the road.

In what seemed like a matter of 30 seconds, the bike stopped moving.

"If you want to hold on forever, that's fine with me," She said, jokingly. "But we're here."

"Huh?" I dared to open my eyes, blinking as I saw that we were sitting in front of my building. I frowned as I realized we were right in front of the front stairs. "Did you drive up onto the sidewalk?"

"I did, indeed," She said, cheerfully. I unbuckled my helmet and handed it back to her, her fingers brushing against mine lightly as she took it. I thought I saw her swallow some air, but she quickly recovered with a smirk. "You're going to be late, aren't you?"

"Shit, I am," I said, suddenly frantic. I bolted off of her bike, gathering my backpack as it began slipping off my shoulder. I turned around and offered her a wave. "I'll, uh, see you. Around. Maybe."

"I'll be seeing you later, love," She said, smiling as she leaned her upper body against her handlebars. "Have fun, learn lots."

"I, I will," I stammered, beyond flustered as I entered the building. I could tell my face was bright red and I felt out of breath. Something told me that my hair was probably a mess and my eyes were definitely dilated and frantic looking.

I was in a large auditorium class, with 300 other students. I chose to sit in the back right corner. My eyesight was good enough that I could see everything I needed to see from back there, and then I could occasionally stop paying attention and no one would notice.

Lucky for me it looked as though over half the class was just barely going to make it to class, meaning it left plenty of space for me. I pushed down my seat and placed my backpack by my feet. Slowly, I took out my laptop and watched as it blinked to life when I opened it. I squinted, quickly mashing the button that turned down the brightness.

"Hey, look who it is!" A familiar voice called. I looked towards the door and saw Franklin and Derrick walking into the room side by side. One look at them would let anyone know that the two young men were close friends. Their steps were in synch and they walked right next to each other. Derrick wore a huge grin on his face while Franklin looked a little grumpier, his eyes only half open.

"What's up, Kels?" Franklin said, politely, as the two boys sat next to me. "Fancy seeing you here.

"Didn't know you had any interest in engineering," Derrick said. "Or, making things, at all."

"I don't," I said, with a sigh. "But, I signed up for classes late, and this was one of the only ones still with free spots in it."

"Don't sweat it," Derrick said, chuckling deeply. "We don't really care about it either. Frank's brother is our professor, though, so it won't be too hard."

"You have a brother?" I asked, curiously.

"I've got three older brothers, actually," He responded. "And two younger brothers. And four older sisters. And one younger sister."

"…Wow." I said, surprised. "Your family's huge."

"It's a little bit of a family tradition," He said, with a shrug. "We like to keep the gene pool alive and well, you know? Breed like dogs. Anyways, it's my _youngest_ older brother that's going to be our professor."

"How old is he?" I questioned.

"Twenty-five," He answered, stretching his back with a small groan. "He's a brainiac, for sure. Loves anything that has to do with computers. Graduated from college when he was sixteen, got a Ph.D in Engineering Sciences."

"And so what does he do now? He just teaches?" I continued.

"He enjoys teaching, yeah," Franklin said, with small shrug. "He and Nathan do a lot of collaborating. Collaborating on what, I can't tell you. I am _not_ any sort of Einstein."

"So… will this class be hard?" I asked, tentatively.

"Not at all," Franklin said, laughing. "This is a 101 class, he barely takes this seriously. It'll mostly been him explaining a power point with ten slides, and then he just kind of shows us how to build things. Like egg drops and mouse trap cars. Stuff like that. Real easy, I promise."

"Besides, I think Kathleen's already taken this class, so we can just get notes from her, too," Derrick said, leaning over so he could see around Franklin. "It's kind of hard, being surrounded by all these smart people. Me and Frank are just dumb jocks."

"Speak for yourself," Franklin said, laughing. "At least I can hunt. Poor dude here couldn't hit a deer with a stick if it was standing right in front of him."

"Whatever dude, there isn't any need to know how to hunt these days," Derrick said, rolling his eyes. "That's why we've got farms."

"Doesn't hurt to have an extra talent up my sleeve," Frank replied, still laughing lowly. " _Dumb Jock_."

" _Good_ morning, class!" A deep, boisterous voice called from the small stage in the front of the classroom. I turned my attention away from my two friends and looked to see who was talking. "My name is Finnick Wolfe. Professor Wolfe, however, to you."

"There he is," Franklin said, in a hushed voice. "Keep your head down, we're trying not to let him notice we're here yet."

"Welcome to introductory engineering," Finnick continued. He had dark, fluffy brown hair, making him look a little bit like a cuddly dog. His eyes were sharp and oriental, and a dark wooden brown. He was pretty decently tall, although probably not taller than Nathan. He was bigger, however, than his friend, with round, firm muscles. He was wearing a button up black and blue short-sleeved flannel shirt and a pair of jeans that looked like that had been through a lot.

"He kind of looks like you," I said, in a low voice.

"He's got my moms eyes," Franklin laughed, quietly, as he brother continued talking. I looked at him quizzically and he responded with a simple answer, pulling at the sides of his eyes with his fingers; "Korean."

"Ah," I said, tilting my head to the side ever so slightly to look at his brother. "I can see it."

"You should see my little sister, Sallie-Mae." Franklin said, with a small smile. "Cutest thing you'll ever see."

"Don't even get him _started_ talking about his family," Derrick said, rolling his eyes. "He could talk about them for hours. I swear he loves them _way_ too much."

"There's nothing wrong with loving your family," Franklin said, frowning at his close friend. "Besides, you know blood runs thick in my family. Has for more generations than I could ever count."

"That is _has_ , Franklin!" Finnick's loud voice called from the front. Franklin and Derrick both paled as they looked towards the front of the room. Finnick smiled at the both of them, his teeth looked pearly white and, oddly, wickedly sharp. He pointed a finger towards his ear and said; "I think you forgot about our family's keen hearing. So, my dear, dear, younger brother, why don't you tell us why _you_ signed up for this class."

"Because I love building things," Franklin responded right away, not missing even a heartbeat.

"Do you?" Finnick said, raising an eyebrow with a laugh. "You don't need to bullshit me. Look. I know a lot of you are here because, maybe, you were late to sign up for a class, or you needed an easy class with credits, or maybe you were just curious to see what this was. That's fine. I get most of you aren't going to actively pursue a career in engineering. I just hope you wont _hate_ it after you take this class. And hopefully I can teach you some helpful things that may prove beneficial in the future. Like how to increase water pressure in your shower or get the radio in your car to start working again. I only ask that in return, you give me fifty-five minutes of attention. It doesn't have to be undivided attention. I understand many of you guys are Juniors and Seniors working on your major, that's fine. Just _try_ to learn something in this class."

"See?" Derrick said, smiling at me. "Piece of cake, easy three credits."

The class finished pretty uneventfully. Finnick talked about wheels and pullies and levers, and how they would be the basis of everything we worked off of. He was pretty funny, for a professor. I credited it to him being so young, still probably considered within our generation. He _was_ only five years older than me.

Class finished ten minutes early and he ended by reminding us to check the schools website and find the link to his domain so that we could keep up with homework and assignments.

"Hey, so you're coming out with us later tonight, right?" Derrick said, as we packed up our things.

"Out?" I said, testing the word.

"Yeah, we're all going to the club tonight," Derrick said, with a huge grin on his face.

"It's Monday," I stated.

"Yeah, and tomorrow's Tuesday," He said, giving me an amused look. "So what? You coming or what?"

"I don't know if I can go out on a school night…" I started, frowning.

"Weak," Franklin teased, throwing his backpack on his shoulders. "Chelsea already said you guys would come."

"She _did_?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"I already invited you guys," Derrick said, cheerfully. "Man, Quinton's definitely gonna love this town. Come on, Kelsey, you gotta come out with us."

"I mean, I don't know," I said, unsure.

Xx

Xx

 _Marceline Abadeer_

"Did you ever think that you were going to end up being married to a vampire, for almost 200 years?" I said, looking out of the kitchen window, wistfully.

"I can't say it was high on the list of things I dreamed of as a little girl," Bonnibel said, putting the dishes I had just cleaned into the cabinets. We were staying in one of the little houses I had bought for us. It sat somewhere in the middle of Montana, so we could be as calm and at peace as we wanted to be. Bonnibel giggled lightly and I looked back at her. She was reaching high to put away a plate, on her tippy toes. "But… well, I did used to dream of being with someone who could love me forever."

"Just call me the sandman," I said, smiling as I quickly came up behind her, grabbing the plate from her hand and putting it in its proper place. I placed a kiss on the back of her head, the smell of strawberry bubblegum filling my senses. "Anything for my Princess."

"Oh, you treat me far too well," She said, looking at me cheekily over her shoulder. She shrugged her shoulders at me, playfully, laughing as she did so. "Whatever did I do to earn such undying love and affection, from such a perfect specimen?"

"I'd hardly call myself _perfect_ ," I said, laughing as I snaked my arms around her. "And as for how you earned my _undying_ love and affection. My love, you were simply born and became the person you are. I am awfully glad you didn't turn out to be an asshole, however, because I don't know if I could've handled forever with an asshole."

"It would appear that I'm the more tolerable of this pair," She said, snickering with amusement. I jabbed her in the stomach with my finger and she squealed.

"Oi, that was a little bit mean, don't you think?" I growled into her ear, playfully. I picked her up by her waist and she laughed brightly. I carried her out of the kitchen, into the living room. "What _am_ I going to do with you?"

"I can think of a few things," She said, trailing a finger up my arm. I felt small goose bumps on my pale skin and a small grin come on my face. I continued to carry her, straight to our bedroom in the back. "But it seems like you can think of a few, too."

"I think I can think of a few more than a few," I said, slowly placing her on the fluffy white comforter that we had put on her bed. Her head softly hit our marshmallow like pillows and she looked back up at me with a smile and half-lidded eyes.

"It's been more than a century, and I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that grin of yours," She said, her heartbeat racing wildly in her chest. Her face was becoming red as she flushed, her chest falling and rising at a steady pace.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to how inexplicably beautiful you are," I murmured, looking down at what I pictured my heaven to look like. She was lying underneath me, my arms on either side of her torso. Her long, silk-like strawberry blonde hair fell in small waves and cascaded around her like a blanket of the lightish orange. She was wearing a pink tank top, her thin and lithe arms exposed with the absence of sleeves. She was wearing a pair of white boxer shorts, which I think actually belonged to me, her creamy, smooth legs traveling down the bed for what seemed like years. I hummed in approval, a grin on my face. "I think that you may be an angel. Or a goddess, perhaps."

"I think that neither is actually realistic," She responded, laughing.

"I can think of something realistic," I said, leaning down to rub my nose against the space from behind her ear to her jaw. "Something _really_ realistic."

"You can, can you?" She breathed out, her breath smelling of mint and blood. "And what exactly would that be."

"That would be-" I started, rudely cut off by the sound of my phone ringing. I sighed, heavily, reaching into my back pocket to pull out my sleek thin phone. I looked at the caller ID and sighed. "Answering a call from my dearest oldest child."

"Nathaniel?" Bubblegum asked, tilting her head at me, sweetly. "What do you think he needs?"

"Well, I'm going to find out," I said, hitting the green 'answer' button on my phone. "Hello there, Nathaniel Abadeer."

"I took care of it," Nathan said, business-like as ever. "The ferals, I mean. They're dead."

"Congratulations," I said, pursing my lips. "Did you actually feel a need to tell me? Usually you just _do_ it."

"I need to talk to you," Nathan said, with a sigh.

"Oh dear," I said, frowning. I mouthed to my wife ' _he needs to talk_ ' before rolling over onto my back. "How rare it is that you actually need to talk to me. What's up, sonny boy?"

"Your daughter," Nathan said, simply.

"My daughter?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Your daughter?" Bubblegum asked, with a look of interest.

"What'd she do this time?" I said, with a small sigh. "Honestly, I shouldn't have let you guys live with grams for so long."

"I don't think anything's wrong," Nathan said, pausing. "Yet."

"Yet?" I questioned, annoyed with my sons roundabout way of explaining things. "Just tell me what's going on. I like to know what I have to fix before I do it."

"I think she's falling in love," He stated plainly.

"In… in _love_?" I said, holding back a snicker. "My daughter? Oh man, that's amazing."

"Don't _laugh_ , Marceline," Bonnibel scolded, lightly hitting me on the shoulder.

"That's not it though," Nathan said, and I could practically hear his heavy frown. "There's… there's something about this girl she likes. I don't think she's human."

"Ah, how peculiar," I said with interest. "So what is she?"

"That's just it," Nathan said, with a hint of frustration. "I can't figure it out. She doesn't _smell_ like anything I'm familiar with, and I don't think she knows. That, or she's exceptionally talented at playing dumb."

"Hmmm," I hummed, thinking. "I think we're long overdue for a parents weekend."

Xx

Xx

 _Kelsey Pillion_

"I don't go clubbing," I said, plainly, my lips pursed together so tight it was almost painful. "I get piss drunk every single time. I can never remember what happened."

"Easy solution," Chelsea said, carefully applying some mascara. I was leaned against the doorframe to the bathroom, my arms folded. She turned toward me, with a smile. "Don't drink too much."

"That's always the plan going in," I said, sighing heavily. My shoulders drooped. "But I somehow always end up wasted within an hour."

"That's probably because you down four shots within ten minutes," Chelsea laughed. She offered me a small shrug, eyeing herself in the mirror, making sure she had properly elongated her eyelashes. "Dean said Serana would be more than happy to be your DD."

" _No_ ," I said, flushing quickly.

"Come on, I bet she'd get a real kick out of seeing you drunk," Chelsea sniggered, moving on to evenly apply some bright red lipstick.

" _No,_ " I said again, definitively. "No way. I'm staying in."

"Serana's already going," Chelsea said, throwing me a disapproving look. "Think she'd be awfully disappointed if you didn't show up."

"She's got other friends to hang out with," I said, frowning back at my sister.

"You're obviously not _just_ a friend to her," Chelsea said, exasperated.

"How would I even know that?" I said, my eyebrows knitted together in frustration. "She's probably straight, and you're just misreading your made up signals."

"How _don't_ you know?" Chelsea said, throwing her hands up. "If I'm misreading the rather _obvious_ signals she's been practically throwing at you, than she must be speaking Hebrew or Chinese. Because it's _more_ than obvious. Honestly, Kelsey, I love you. But denial just doesn't look good on you."

"I'm _not_ in denial." I said.

"Fine," She said, turning to look at me. "If I'm misreading the signals, than she wont have any reaction when you show up. Prove me wrong. If she goes off, if she leaves you alone for even a _minute_ , I'll back off."

" _Fine_ ," I said, frowning back at her.

"Hope you like losing," She said in a sing song voice. "Hey, let me help you get ready. Been a long time since you last went out, might as well look nice while you're there."

"You don't need to-" I started.

"Nonsense," Chelsea said, rolling her eyes. "I think you're forgetting how hot you can be when you actually try. Hey! Let's take a shot to celebrate."

…

…

…

I was already tipsy when it was time for us to head out. Quinton had walked in on us half way through, carrying a bottle of vodka. I almost questioned him on how and where he got it from, but when he poured me a shot I had completely forgotten about it.

Chelsea was stunning, as always. Her makeup was done perfectly, her eyes looked seductive and sultry, her red lipstick stark against her pale skin. She was wearing a cream colored sweater that hung off of her right shoulder, exposing her smooth skin to the air. She had on a pair of simple black leggings and black pumps, making her two inches taller than she really was. She wore her long, straight hair out, covering the two small diamond studs in her ears. She had decided to put on a few of her favorite gold and silver rings and a wooden watch she had bought online recently.

Quinton was dressed simply. What a privilege it was, to be a guy. Ugh. He had on a light red tank top with a black breast pocket, a pair of white pants and brown loafers.

"I… I can't do this," I slurred only slightly, already feeling the effects of the alcohol. I started walking to my room, blinking rapidly. "I'm staying home."

"You are _not_ staying home, after I put so much work into making you look so hot," Chelsea practically screeched at me, grabbing my arm. "Honestly, you can't be considering getting into bed like this."

Chelsea had carefully curled my hair earlier, my reddish hair falling in small waves around my head. I had put my contacts in, my green eyes somewhat accentuated by the thin amount of eyeliner she had put on me. She had thrown some foundation on me, covering up the vast amount of freckles I had. She had picked out one of her outfits for me; a formfitting dress, with a sleeve on the right side and exposed my left shoulder and arm. It was black as night, and ended just inches underneath my butt. She had _permitted_ me to wear flats, and so I had just slipped on a pair of black converses. I had thrown an over the shoulder wallet on and was struggling not to stumble out of our house.

"But," I started.

"No buts." Chelsea said, sternly, holding my arm as she dragged me out of the front door. "Serana's coming to pick us up, alright? Her place is close to the club, so we're going to pregame there with everyone else and then head out."

"S…S…Serana's picking us up?" I said, barely able to process the information. "Nope, no! I'm staying home."

"Too late," Chelsea said, perky. She practically galloped us down the stairs, Quinton following us, holding his hands out to make sure I didn't slip or fall. "She's here."

"I'm here," Serana's voice said, and I blinked to turn towards the street. I saw her there, standing in front of us. She was leaned against a matte white jeep wrangler, one foot pressed flat against the side, her arms crossed. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans, rolled up to her just above her ankles, and a loose grey shirt and a white and grey stripped button up shirt over. She had those same tims on that I almost always saw her wearing. I saw her raise an eyebrow as she looked me. "And… here you are."

"Serana!" I said, surprised. "I'm… I'm not drunk."

"Really?" She said, a hint of amusement in her voice. I saw her lick her lips and flinch ever so slightly. "Well, hop on in. I'll bring you guys to my place, everyone else is already there."

"You have a car?" I asked. Serana held open the passenger door open and I tentatively walked in.

"I have a car," Serana said, chuckling lightly. Chelsea and Quinton clambered into the back and Serana slipped into the drivers seat. "I've got a few cars actually. This just happens to be my favorite, _and_ the one I brought to school."

"Stupid rich kid," I said, half-pouting. "Buy me a shot."

"I'll buy you all the shots you want, love," She said, her accent oddly more appealing than it normally was. If that was even possible. "Let's see if you even make it to my house first, though."

"I'm… I'm going to make it," I said, nodding. I leaned my head against the window and sighed, watching as houses passed by us

"She's a mess when she drinks," I heard Chelsea laugh in the back. "She's not even wasted yet. Just wait for it, she doesn't stop."

"Aren't you worried she's going to herself?" Serana said, worry laced in her voice.

"You'd think with how much she drinks she'd have killed herself," Chelsea said, still laughing. "But she never has. I mean, she definitely should've got alcohol poisoning a few times, but she just takes a nap and wakes up within an hour or two perfectly okay."

"Yeah, well, don't blame me if I'm still going to be a little cautious," Serana said. I turned over to see her frowning slightly, and I smiled. She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. "What?"

"You're really pretty," I blurted out.

"Ah," She said, a laugh bubbling out from her. "Well. Thanks. You, too, sweetheart."

"I like when you say that," I mumbled as we pulled into a drive way. "It sounds so… nice."

"I'll say it all you want, sweet heart," She said, pulling her keys out of the ignition. "But only if you let me help you get out of the car."

"Looks like I'm going to win this bet," Chelsea said in a sing-song voice.

"Bet?" Serana asked, opening my door for me. She offered me a hand, and I cautiously placed my own in hers. She helped me step down and put a hand on my waist as I balanced myself.

"Just a stupid bet me and Chelsea made," I said, squinting at her familiar front porch. I let go out Serana and began walking.

"What was it?" She asked curiously. I could hear her walking slowly behind me.

"Nothing," I quickly said, throwing her a look over my shoulder. I saw her swallow as my eyes caught hers. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Huh?" She said, shaking her head. She wiped a hand over her face, pulling down her jaw slightly, tilting her head and laughed. "Nothing. Yet."

"Uh-huh…" I said, eyeing her. Her canines looked oddly pointed, but she closed her mouth before I could get a better look. I blinked and turned back around, flinging the door open and following my siblings.

"Hey! She made it!" Derrick called as I walked into the Abadeer living room.

"Couldn't resist his charms?" Franklin said, pointing a thumb at his friend, laughing heartily. He had a tall glass in his hand filled with what looked like foamy pee, meaning it was probably beer.

"The Pillions made it!" Eugene cheered, appearing around a corner that I believed led to the kitchen/dining room.

"Welcome, welcome, ladies," Dean said, walking into the room with a tray of shot glasses filled with colorful liquid. "Jell-o shots?"

"You found the key to my heart," Chelsea joked, quickly slipping in between people to grab one. She quickly downed it before grabbing three more and walking back to my brother and I. "Bottoms up."

I took it from her and threw it back, blinking at the hard feeling down my throat. Quinton took his own, with a smile.

"Another round!" Quinton cheered, and the room lit up in yells and cheers.

"Drink up, you little kid," Kathleen said, laughing as she handed him a bottle of tequila. "Chug, punk!"

"Bathroom," I mumbled to myself, as I suddenly realized how badly I had to pee. I blinked, turning on my heel and beginning to walk in the other direction. I vaguely remembered where it was, blinking as I walked down the floating hallway.

My steps were cautious, not wanting to fall over and have everyone hear my fall over. I opened a door and walked in.

"Why hello there," Nathan's voice said. I looked in and saw Nathan sitting on his bed, cross-legged, playing on a guitar.

"Hi, Nathan," I said, happily smiling at the older man. With thought, I frowned. "This is not the bathroom."

"No, it's not," Nathan said, laughing. "Might I remind you, as well, that under aged drinking is illegal?"

"It's okay, it's okay," I said, waving it off. "I turn twenty-one in… in… soon."

"Really?" He said, looking at me suspiciously. "The bathroom is the next door to the right, love."

"Ah! Bathroom, bathroom!" I said, slowly turning, but then I turned back, frowning at the man. "You're here."

"I am here, this is _my_ room," He said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"How did… your experiment go?" I asked, with a small hiccup. "Why aren't you in the lab?"

"I'm taking a bit of a break, love," He said, with a small chuckle and a shake of his head. "Go to the bathroom, dear. Before you forget again."

"Oh, right!" I said, turning around yet again.

"You should really keep a better eye on her, Serana," Nathan said, as I turned. I walked head first into a solid body, 'oof'ing in surprise.

"Duly noted," She said, taking me by the shoulders. She looked down at me with a smile and said; "Bathroom, is it?"

"I gotta pee," I said, urgently.

"In you go," She said, spinning me, walking me five steps and gently pushing me into another room. "I figure you can do it yourself."

"Of _course_ I can," I said, throwing a confident look over my shoulder as I sauntered into the bathroom. I think I saw her roll her eyes, with an equally as confident smirk, as I closed the door.

…

…

…

I can't say I remember how many shots I had taken, or what I had drank at all, or how we even made it to this club. I vaguely remember a strong arm constantly placed on my back and glaring at my sisters knowing smirk.

It was loud in there, and bright. It was insanely dark, but bright at the same time. There were flashing colors everywhere and glow in the dark go-go dancers wearing fluffy boots in cages hanging from the ceiling.

"Woo!" I cheered as we made it in, my hands over my head with a cheer. "Let's… Let's party!"

"The booze is finally making her outgoing!" Chelsea said, clapping her hands. Her face was bright red, signaling that she was definitely absolutely wasted as well.

"Ladies, as excited as I am as well," Eugene said, putting his hands on our backs and pushing us lightly. "We're going to have to get inside to have any fun."

"I wanna dance," I said, excited, turning to throw my sister a look, wiggling my eyebrows. "You know I love to dance."

"She loves to dance?" Serana asked, with a laugh.

"You don't even know me, yet," I said, tilting my head back to eye her. She was standing right behind me, much like she most of the night.

"I suppose I should take this opportunity to do just that," She said, her blue eyes bright as she looked at me.

"I think we should take this opportunity to get some young ladies to the DANCE FLOOR!" Derrick shouted, grabbing Chelsea and I by our waists and hoisting us up. He was stronger than I realized, easily carrying the two of us as we wiggled and squealed. He carried us to the middle of the dance floor, easily pushing past every one, placing us down in front of the speakers near the DJ.

"Don't do that again," Serana hissed, with a small hint of annoyance. "Honestly, I hate being DD."

"Don't be, next time," I said, looking up at her through my eyelashes. "I've never seen _you_ drunk."

"At the rate we're going, you're not ever going to see me get drunk," She said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Boo," I said, pouting. Suddenly, I turned my ear to the music. They were playing a rap song, with a steady beat and retro video game sounding blips, along with a likely over confident young man singing. I smiled. "I love this song."

"I do too!" Kathleen said, by my side. "Dance with me!"

"I _love_ dancing," I said, as she grabbed my hand and proceeded to dance. I moved my hips to the rhythm and we raised our hands over our heads. I closed my eyes and whipped my head around, feeling the music and booze bringing life to my body.

I felt Kathleen turn and press her back against me, before her knees bent as she brought her body to the floor.

"Don't leave me out," Chelsea pouted, friskily, as I felt her come up behind me. I copied Kathleen's motion, dancing towards the floor before coming back up, a hand coming up to travel through my hair.

"Shit," I heard Dean curse after a short while. "Let me in on this action, ladies. Not trying to stand around as a dudefest over there."

I opened my eyes, looking over my shoulder to see Dean coming up behind Chelsea, grinding against her with his hands up. He wore a goofy looking grin; his face twisted playfully, his tongue sitting outside of his mouth.

"We've gotta get uglier female friends," Derrick said in a hushed voice to Eugene. "This is a little too much for me to handle. And one of those girls is my cousin."

"Surprised mine isn't joining," Eugene said, jokingly.

That suddenly made me realize, in my drunken haze, that Serana was no longer standing right behind me. I looked around, continuing to dance, scanning the room for the younger girl. As I scanned my eyes locked with hers, still close to me, watching me protectively. As my eyes caught hers, she licked her lips and swallowed, hard.

I licked my own lips, suddenly feeling like I was on fire. I bit down, my heart feeling like it was going to jump out of my chest.

"Dude," I heard Franklin say, walking up to Serana's side. He handed her two shots and said; "We're all walking distance from your house. We don't need a DD."

"I'm not drinking," She said, her eyes not leaving mine.

"Man, nothing bad's gonna have to her," Franklin said. "And a little booze will help you curb that appetite. I can tell when you're getting hungry, dude."

"Fuck it," She said, grabbing the shots. She quickly downed one and immediately poured the second down her throat. She handed the glasses back to Franklin, who winked at me. She made eye contact with me and I suddenly felt light headed when I saw her heading towards me.

"Join us?" Kathleen asked, in a rather loud voice. "Where's Quin?"

"Bathroom," Chelsea called back.

"Hey there," Serana said, her eyes burning up. They were a bit darker, her pupils dilated. She stood in front of me and I suddenly realized I had stopped dancing. I stepped out from my spot as Serana spoke to me.

"Hi," I said, breathlessly. "Want to dance?"

"As much as I would love to," She said, grinning that boyish Abadeer grin at me. I smiled back at her, sort of feeling like I could faint. "I think I need a breather. I'm gonna take a step outside."

"Want me to tag along?" I asked, my voice low and deeper than I had meant for it to be.

"I'd love that," She said, her voice just as low and husky. I felt her voice laced with some unspeakable emotion, the tension behind us damn near snapping. She gestured for me to walk in front of her. "After you."

"So polite," I said, with a smile. "May have to keep you around."

"Is that so?" She said, her voice setting fireworks off in my nerves. She licked her lips again and I tingled all over.

"Yeah," I said, my breath leaving my lungs instantly.

"Your heartbeat is so loud," She hissed, as we walked out of the back doors.

"My… my heartbeat?" I said, confused. We took a step outside and fresh air filled my nose. I saw her take a deep, shaky breath. She wiped her face again, her tongue sliding against her front teeth.

"Shit, you're making this really hard," She growled, a hand gripping the back of her neck.

"Make what hard?" I said, standing with my back facing a wall. She faced me, her eyes burning into my skin.

"Is there any special reason you put on this ensemble today?" She asked, standing right in front of me. I could feel her hot breath brush past my face ever so slightly. "I have a hard time believing you dress so well every time you go out."

"You've only known me a little over a week," I pouted. "You don't know my dressing habits yet."

"Am I wrong?" She said, raising an eyebrow. She took another step towards me and I backed up slightly, my back touching the cool bricks of the wall.

"Well… no," I admitted, the world spinning slightly.

"I'd say I know you pretty well already, Kelsey," She said, her voice rumbling in my chest. My name rolled off her tongue so easily, like melting ice cream.

"Yeah?" I breathed out. "What makes you think that?"

"I'm not entirely sure," She said, with a smile. "Call it instinct."

"Instinct?" I asked, tilting my head so my cheek just barely touched my shoulder.

"Want me to guess what you're thinking? Right now?" She spoke just above a whisper.

"What am I thinking?" I asked, as she came closer. Her face was only a few centimeters from mine, and her brilliant blue eyes were the only things I could focus on.

"I think… you want me to kiss you." She said, confidently. She blinked at me once, before she grinned. "Wanna know what I'm thinking?"

"What?" I asked, deeply hoping she would end my torture.

"I think there's never been a person in the world that I want to kiss more," She said, before closing the distant in between us. She leaned down, taller than I was, and her soft lips were pressed against mine.

I felt as though I may combust on the spot. She tasted like svedka and… blood? Her hands were placed on either side of my head, her elbows bent so that she could get even closer.

I grabbed the bottom of her shirt, pulling her closer to me. Her torso pressed against mine, her body slightly colder than mine was. I reached my arms up to wrap them around her neck and she opened her mouth slightly.

Our kisses were hot, wet and desperate at this point. I couldn't tell where her mouth started and mine ended. She reached down, her hands on my thighs and lifted me up. We detached for a fraction of a second as I looked down at her. Her eyes looked frantic and she was breathing heavily.

She quickly reattached herself to me, even more needy than before. My tongue slipped over her teeth and I could feel her somewhat ridiculously sharp canines. Her nails raked along the sensitive skin on my legs. She had me pinned against the wall, her strong legs were the only things holding us up. Her body was strong, stronger than seemed normal for a still teenage young woman.

Her mouth slowly left mine, leaving me wanting more. She looked at me, her eyes lost and desperate. Her face looked hopeless and needy, like a disoriented little puppy. She was breathing heavily, her mouth slack.

"I need you," She said, her voice barely above a whisper. I looked down at her, suddenly feeling very sober, and offered her a shy smile.

"You _have_ me," I whispered back. She took a shaky breath and smiled back at me. She moved to kiss me again but stopped short, frustrating me.

"Oi, keep going!" A male voice called out. I turned to see a group of men standing further down the alley, maybe five of them. They were clearly drunk, swaying back and forth, hooting and hollering with dark laughter. "Come on! I was enjoying the show."

"Let's get out of here," Serana growled, placing me on my feet again. She held my hand as I steadied myself.

"Okay," I nodded at her, completely at her mercy. She probably could've told me to jump into a river, and I would've. She kept my hand clasped in hers and moved to walk out of the alley.

"Oh, come on, don't just leave!" One of the men said, and I could hear as they all walked towards us. Serana tensed but continued walking. "Tease."

"If you gals are done with each other, at least entertain _us_ ," Another said, while one of his friends cat calls. "That red head looks like she could be a little frisky."

"Shut _up_ ," Serana hissed underneath her breath.

" _You_ can leave," One of them said, with a small click of their tongue. "You look good, but you don't seem like much fun."

"She's got a nice ass, though, don't you think?" One of the other men commented.

"I want a taste of this one," Another said, and I felt a meaty, sweaty hand grabbed my wrist.

"Don't touch me!" I squealed, attempting to wriggle myself from his grasp.

"Let go of her," Serana said, her voice menacingly low.

"Or what?" He laughed, giving me a tug. "What're you gonna do? You're just a girl."

"Let _go_ of her," Serana said again. "Or you're not going to live to regret it."

"Is that a threat?" He said, angrily.

"It's a _statement_ ," She said, her voice harsh.

"I'd like to see you try," He said, scoffing and giving me another tug.

Suddenly, Serana's hand was no longer with mine. She was in front of me, grabbing the man's wrist.

"Gah!" He shouted, letting go of my hand. "Damn bitch, how are you so strong."

"I'm going to have to explain this later," Serana hissed, turning back to me. She held out her free hand towards me, holding something. "Hold this, please."

"Wha-" I started, as she dropped a ring into my hands. I looked back at her and blinked. "Your eyes...!"

"I _warned_ you," Serana said, turning back towards the man. She let go of the man's wrist, only to grab him by the throat.

She slowly lifted him up into the air, and I backed up. He kicked his legs and grabbed at her hand, trying to free himself.

"Whoa, whoa!" His friends started running towards us. Serana looked at them, and threw the man to the side against the wall.

His body painfully rag dolled, hitting the wall with inhuman force. I heard him groan in pain, desperately.

"What the fuck are you?" One of them shouted.

"Would it be too cliché to say that _I'm your worst nightmare_ ," She said, slowly. And then she was no longer standing in the same place. I heard a crack and looked over back at where she had thrown the man.

He fell back onto the ground, his head facing the wrong direction, his eyes wide with fear and black with… death.

"Good night," She hummed, turning her attention back towards the other four men. "Who's next?"

"Not me, man, I'm out of here!" One of them shouted, trying to run past me. I moved to the side, just in time for him to attempt to sprint away. I barely had time to look over my shoulder as he was sent flying back into the dark alley.

"I don't think so," Serana said, standing behind me. I swallowed, terrified. She turned to look at me, frowning. "Close your eyes. You don't need to see this."

I blinked, unable to keep my eyes closed. She sighed and promptly removed her flannel shirt. She walked towards me, my body shaking violently.

"Cover your eyes," She said, handing me her shirt. "Sing yourself the ABC's. It'll all be over by then."

I took the shirt from her, my hands trembling so hard that I almost couldn't pick it up. She sighed at me, sadly, before moving past me. I took the sleeves of the shirt and wrapped it around the back of my head, tying it loosely, before I started singing myself the alphabet.

A B C D, E F G –

I heard desperate shouts of pain and calls for help, followed by a wet gurgle and crunching sounds. I heard a heavy object hit the ground and my nose was filled with an odd metallic smell.

O, Q R S-

I heard a violent snap and a terrified scream that was soon muffled by… something. He was tossed, I think, against garbage cans, crying in pain.

T U V –

I think I heard him trying to scuffle away, dragging something along with him. He cried and pleaded, and soft steps made their way across the concrete ground.

W X Y and Z –

And the screaming was over. I heard a door fly open, hit the wall, and footsteps running towards us.

"Hey! What's going on out here?" Eugene's voice suddenly shouted. "We smelled blood."

"Shit," Franklin said, sounding frustrated. "Serana, you didn't just kill five people."

"I, uh, did," She said, shyly.

"Kelsey? Kelsey, is that you?" I heard Dean's voice call, suddenly close to me. I swallowed hard and nodded, unsure if he was even looking at me. I felt hands on my shoulders and flinched, taking a step back. I tripped on something, though, and felt my weight leave me and head directly for the ground.

I painfully smacked my head against the pavement, clenching my teeth down hard. I saw stars for a long moment, disoriented and in pain.

"Jesus Christ, are you okay, Kelsey? It's me, okay, it's _me_." Dean asked, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. I moved a hand to hold the back of my pain, grimacing painfully. My head throbbed and I could taste a tiny bit of blood. "You're bleeding."

"Are you okay?" Serana asked, her voice suddenly close. I flinched again, instinctively getting closer to Dean.

"I… I think I want to go home," I said, holding back my tears. In my fear, I had been frozen, but now that it was over I realized how horribly terrifying that had been. Dean removed his hands from my shoulders and I heard him audibly sigh. "Take me home."

"I'll take her ho-" Serana started, but suddenly stopped.

" _No you will not_ take her home," A familiar voice said, sternly. "Do you honestly think she's going to want to be alone with you, after this?"

"Nathan, what are you doing here?" Serana said, sounding surprised and exasperated.

"I could hear them screaming on my way to the lab," Nathan said, harshly. "You are so ridiculously reckless. Are you stupid? Tell me, honestly. Are you just a complete idiot?"

"They were bothering us," Serana said, desperately. "They grabbed _her_."

"And you simply could've taken her away," Nathan snapped back, strictly. "Instead, you killed them. With _her_ here. Are you an idiot?"

"I couldn't just let them go," Serana said, sounding indignant.

"No, that's _exactly_ what you should've done!" Nathan shouted, and I grimaced. I heard him sigh. "Eugene, Dean, take her home please. Franklin, go back inside, tell Derrick and Kathleen what happened, take the rest of them to your place. I'll call Finnick, inform him of what's occurred, so he isn't surprised. Serana and I will… clean this mess up."

"Hey…" Eugene said, softly as I felt a hand on my shoulder. "We're going to take you home, alright. We'll explain… well, we'll explain this when we get there, alright."

"Oh… okay." I said, sniffling.

"Do you mind if I pick you up?" Dean said, cautiously. "We'll be there much sooner if I run us there."

"I…" I said, tentatively. "That's fine."

…

…

…

I felt my backside touch my soft comforters as he lowered me. I felt physically drained and exhausted. I was confused, befuddled, flustered and bewildered, and all I wanted to do was lay down and cry because of how ridiculous everything seemed at the current moment.

"Can I take this off my eyes now?" I managed to ask.

"Yeah, of course," Eugene said. I slowly reached up and unknotted the shirt, removing it from my face.

I was sitting on my bed and Eugene and Dean were standing in front me. The lights were on in my room and the hallway door was open. I looked at the two brothers, noticing their eyes were bright red and the way they oddly held their mouths halfway closed.

"So…" I said, slowly.

"I'm guessing you want an explanation." Dean said, pursing his lips.

"That's a bit of an understatement," I said grimly, with a blank face.

"Well, it's kind of hard to figure out where to start," Eugene said, gripping the back of his neck with one of his large hands.

"What _are_ you?" I asked.

"We're vampires," Dean said, plainly.

"All of you?"

"Ah, no," Eugene said.

" _We_ are," Dean said, pointing in between them. "And Nathan and Serana are as well."

"But the rest of your friends know what you are?" I asked.

"We've known each other pretty much our whole lives," Eugene said, sitting down at my desk chair. "Our parents are _long_ time friends. Like hundred year old friends."

"But they're not vampires?" I asked, frowning.

"No," Eugene said, with a nod.

"So what are they?" I questioned.

"Different things," Dean said, with a small shrug. "Franklin and his family are werewolves. Werewolf royalty, actually. His father is a man named Jake Wolfe, second in line to take the crown for the king, behind his older brother."

"Kathleen and Derrick's fathers are brothers," Eugene said, crossing his arms. "Derrick's dad is an angel, while his mother is a fairy. Odd, I know, considering what a dumb brute he looks like. Kathleen's dad is a demon, however."

"I think odd is a good word to describe this entire situation," I said, my voice hoarse. My throat hurt and felt scratchy. "So you're all what? Some weird supernatural creatures?"

"We call ourselves supers," Eugene responded. "For supernatural."

"Some people will call us hellwards," Dean continued. "The Abadeers and Kathleen. Not Franklin and Derrick. Vampires and demons tend to get automatically attributed to Hell. We've never been though."

"So Hell exists?" I said, trying to process the information they were telling me.

"Yeah," Eugene said, pursing his lips. "But you shouldn't worry about it. Contrary to popular belief, not tons of people get sent there. Killers, manipulators, psychopaths… mostly those types. Not normal people."

"Non-virgins, homosexuals, non-believers, tax evaders," Dean said. "All completely safe. Even if you don't confess your sins."

"What about you guys?" I asked, curiously. "What happens if you die?"

"Well, that's just highly unlikely," Eugene said, with a small snort. "But if we do, it's just sort of… poof. I believe."

"Poof?" I repeated, confused.

"We disappear," Dean explained. "We're technically already dead, this being a kind of eternal Hell for some. So, when we 'die' we just cease to exist. _Poof_."

"No more big bad vampire," Eugene said.

"That seems… kind of sad," I said, my voice low and quiet.

"Like Gene said, it'd be awfully hard for us to die," Dean said, slowly. "We're… we're part of the original blood line."

"Huh?" I said.

"Our parents and grandparents were the original vampires," Eugene continued for his brother. "Meaning, we have that same blood running through us. And royal vampires are… a lot different from normal vampires."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh… well, what sort of idea do you have about vampires?" Dean said, trying to be helpful. "Like, what sort of things come to mind when you think of vampires."

"They drink blood," I said, thinking. "They burn in the sun, they can't eat garlic. They don't show up in mirrors, they're faster and stronger than normal people, they can control other people's minds. And they need to be invited in somewhere to get in, and they live forever."

"Less than half of that is true for royal bloods," Dean explained. "We drink blood, yes, but we don't need to. We can live off of food, like normal human beings, because our blood can still take in nutrients and stuff from other things. We have to eat a lot more than humans, due to our processing in our bodies being much different."

"We don't burn in the sun," Eugene continued. "Normal vampires do, they don't come out during the day. It's extremely uncomfortable for us in the daylight without our limiters."

"Limiters?" I asked.

"We'll get to that later," Eugene said.

"We _are_ much faster and stronger than normal people," Dean said, frowning as he spoke. "Royal bloods are naturally the fastest and strongest, born with the most ability. Our power comes from our blood, and the longer we live the more powerful we become. We become weaker when we bleed, but our body works in a way that allows us to regain our powers simply by drinking or feeding. Normal vampires, however, live off of the blood we gave them. So, when they spill their own blood, they become much weaker, and need to wait a long time before they go back to full strength, so that their powers can reaccumlate in their systems."

"Normal vampires lose their souls when they change, explaining why they need to be invited inside or can't be seen in a mirror," Dean continued. "They are no longer a 'person' and as a result aren't recognized by normal standards of the world. They can walk around where a general population can and within their own homes, but if a person doesn't recognize a vampire as some one permitted to enter their home then the rules of the world will refuse to allow them to enter."

"We, however, keep our souls," Eugene said, playing with a pencil on my desk. "We're basically like people, but _very, very_ dangerous. And constantly hungry. Oh, and we can all eat garlic."

"That part's just a myth that started because our father doesn't like garlic all that much," Dean said. "Hates it, actually. The smell, the taste, the texture. Says it's the bane of his existence."

"While we're already basically like people, we have the ability to live almost normal human lives," Eugene cracked his knuckles. "We wear this nifty things called limiters, that very literally limit our abilities."

"Eugene and I wear ours as necklaces," Dean said, pulling out a small chain from underneath his shirt. There was a small red jewel on it, glowing dimly. "Serana's is her ring. It limits our bodies to that of a human; normal strength, normal speed. Conceals our eyes and teeth. We still get hungry, though."

"It doesn't affect our aging, either," Eugene said, tugging on his own limiter. "Normal vampires stop aging when they're turned. Royals stop when they finish puberty."

"I still have Serana's ring," I suddenly said, unfolding my hands.

"Ah," Eugene said, with a small snort. "You want us to give that back to her?"

"I can imagine you're not really in the mood to see her so soon," Dean said, gently. "That's okay. No one would blame you."

"So… you _all_ are vampires?" I asked. "You're whole family."

"Yes," Dean said, with a nod.

"Are you… are you _bad_ vampires?" I said, furrowing my eyebrows. "Are you going to hurt me? And my family? Will you hurt us?"

"No, we would never," Dean said, shaking his head. "Eugene and I were practically brought up as complete pacifists."

"But you still drink blood?"

"We try to avoid it, but sometimes we really do need it to completely curb our appetite," Eugene said. "We take a small bite, drink a little, and erase their memories. Heal them up and leave them at home, like nothing ever happened. We try to avoid scarring people, physically or emotionally."

"What about Nathan?" I asked.

"Nathan doesn't like fighting or violence or anything like that," Dean said. "He has an… arrangement, with a friend of his."

"He said he was getting blood bags this morning," I said, sniffling a bit. "Were they for…?"

"Yeah," Dean said, nodding. "He usually drinks them when he plans on being in the lab for a long time. Keeps his wits about him, lets him stay nice and energized, alert and aware."

"And… and Serana?" I said, slowly.

"Our dearest cousin is a bit of a different story," Eugene said, sounding a bit spiteful. "She seems to hold a certain… indifference towards mortal lives."

"Well, she shows indifference to _all_ lives," Dean said, with a sigh. "She spent a lot of time with our grandparents growing up. The Queen and King of vampires."

"Grams hasn't always been very partial to teach sympathy and empathy towards others," Eugene said, frowning heavily. "Unfortunately, it seems Serana's been poisoned with her ways a bit."

"Grams used to tell her that since we are so superior, we should be able to take what we want," Dean said. "And while Serana doesn't take that completely to heart, she has a hard time with… perspective, shall we say."

"She fails to understand that life revolves around things other than us," Eugene sighed. "She doesn't really seem to understand that everyone and everything lives it's own individual life, and thinks things that don't involve us are irrelevant."

"She doesn't _mean_ badly," Dean said, pursing his lips with thought. "I think the better way of saying it is that she just doesn't know any better."

"It took our own father years to learn to see outside his own eyes," Eugene continued. "He was alive for _much_ longer than us. We're only been around eighteen years."

"So she's just misunderstood?" I said, frowning with thought.

"Misunderstanding more like," Eugene said, with a small nod.

"But still dangerous," Dean said, breathing out a heavy breath. "Which brings us to our original point. You don't have to see her soon, if you don't want to."

"I… I don't think I can see her right now," I said, solemnly but honestly. "She… she _killed_ those people, in cold blood. They didn't even have a chance to defend themselves."

"That's fine," Dean said, nodding at me. "You don't have to see her. We understand this is a lot to process, it's been a long night."

"We're going to put a barrier up on your house tonight," Eugene said, his voice soft and comforting. "To make you feel safer. Is that okay?"

"What about my siblings?" I asked.

"They'll be at the Wolfe's house, perfectly safe," Dean reassured me. "Finnick, Frank's older brother, would never let anything happen to them."

"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath. "Would you stay? I mean unless it's annoying."

"It's not a problem," Dean said, smiling politely. "We'll stay over and sleep in the living room."

"Thank you," I said, smiling back at them.

"Of course," Eugene said. The two brothers stood up and began walking out of the room. "Get some sleep, blood bag."

"Don't call her that," Dean said, smacking him in the back. "You'll scare her."

"We're not the scary ones," Eugene snickered lightly. "Don't worry one bit, Kels. I promise, we're good guys. You don't have to trust us right away, but we would never hurt you."

"Okay," I said. I held up my hand and tossed the ring towards Eugene. He caught it, swiftly, moving faster than my brain could process. I gave the twin brothers a small smile and said; "Thank you."

The brothers left my room, turning the light off and closed my door. I leaned over and felt my head hit the pillow. I grimaced, the pain in my head all but forgotten. I grabbed my blankets and protectively wrapped them around me, dazed and confused.

I slowly started drifting off. I dreamed that people were walking all over the world, and I could see everyone. I could hear every single one of their conversations and experienced all of their pain and pleasure.

A single voice stood out against the rest.

 _Well, what have we here, lassie? Seems like things are about to become_ _ **interesting**_ _… hahahaHAHA…!_


	4. Chapter 4

Sleeping With Sirens – Iris (Goo Goo Dolls Cover)

Jhene Aiko – Spotless Mind

Jhene Aiko – It's Cool

Jhene Aiko – Eternal Sunshine

Bastille – Dreams (cover)

Bastille – (I) Just Died in Your Arms Tonight (cover)

WLFPCK – Take Me In

WLFPCK – Vibrations

TEAM. – Human War Machine

Xx

Xx

 _Marceline Abadeer_

Being in control of the world's fate kind of sucked. I mean, most of the time I just ignored my job. When _Fate_ had given me the job, she hadn't really given me the whole description.

Contrary to popular belief, the world turned and turned on even if there wasn't someone there to monitor it twenty-four seven. So, most of the time, I simply _didn't_. It was annoying and tedious and pointless. Humanity progressed without me constantly appending minor details.

I was still responsible, however, for the big things. See, humans, as intelligent and civilized as they are, are fucking stupid. It was _me_ who had to stop stupid wars. _I_ had to stop humans from discovering something that could threaten all of life on the planet. _I_ had to make sure the population didn't increase too ridiculously. That, however, had just ended with me becoming incredibly frustrated and unleashing a plague on the world for fifteen years. Killed damn near three billion people. Three _billion_.

Bonnibel had been kind of pissed at me for that one, but human's breed like fucking rabbits sometimes. It's ridiculous. Do we not realize that we're going to overpopulate the world? No, of course not. That's a problem for another generation.

Or me. The one who had to regulate everything.

What sucked even more than this fucking job was being the only one doing it. Originally, it was supposed to be Katie and me. Katie Merten, Finn and Nin's little sister.

I can still remember when I realized she had disappeared, only two weeks after Jake and Lady's wedding. We had been neglecting our duties prior to that, and I finally decided it was time to start figuring out how to get shit done. Spent three days looking for her, with no luck.

She had disappeared, left us, along with Frankie. The two just up and left us out to dry, like fucking laundry held up by a loose clothes pin. Would've kind of helped, you know, having someone that could _literally hear every single thought in the world_ when I was trying to figure out what to do with the world. Maybe get rid of some of the weird sadists, the stupid people, and the radicals. I could've done a better job of letting families live and die together. I definitely could've prevented the KKK from restarting in Mexico and spreading to Europe. Long story.

I can't say I had been ridiculously surprised, however. She had never liked us, never liked being around us. I don't think she really liked being around _people_ in general. Ironic, yes, considering she was supposed to be the most people person of every person alive. Some fucking Cupid she was.

Bonnibel had been completely outraged when I told her that she had disappeared. Called her a son of a bitch good for nothing low life, before profusely apologizing to Michael and Lucifer for accidently insulting them. She stomped around and swore for, like, five days straight. I think she was more frustrated than I was how impossible it was to find her.

She could hear our thoughts, but we couldn't hear hers. Even if we were ever getting close to finding her, she could just relocate and we'd have no idea. It was incredibly vexing.

Nin had been absolutely devastated when he realized we were likely never going to find her again. He blamed it on himself, said he wasn't a good enough big brother. Finn told him he had a really strange obsession with their younger sister before he gave him a long spiel on how he couldn't control how another person with free will behaved. It was true, though. Nin _did_ have the weirdest fixation on her.

After Katie left, Nin sort of just drowned his sorrows in booze and women. Being Finn's brother, you'd think he'd have a hard time picking up ladies. He must've sucked all the charm away from him in the womb, however, because he was with a different woman almost every day.

We all lived together, for a while. Me, Bonnibel, Marshall Lee, Gumball, Jake, Lady, Finn and Nin. We stayed in this cool modern villa house, just outside of San Diego. It was fun while it lasted. A whole _hundred_ years.

But, unfortunately, eventually duty called for us. Marshall Lee and I took over hierarchical vampire responsibilities as my parents decided to retire to a small town in Sweden. Of course, Bonnibel and Gumball came with us. They insisted they share some of the responsibilities, being our spouses and that making them royalty in and of itself.

To be fair, they were better leaders than us, I think. Marshall Lee could lead the hell out of any army, but politics and general leadership was never really his thing. Me? I hate interacting with people. I was more than happy to let them handle the front end of it. I had my hands full, anyways, trying to make sure the Earth never tipped sideways.

Jake and Lady had to return to the Wolfe mansion, in their home town. Jake's father, decided that he would soon step down from his position as the alpha. He was old, and beginning to get sickly. And while normally, the position automatically went to the alpha's son, Jake's father had been the only king to have more than one son. He had four, and so he decided that they all needed to return and prove themselves to him before he died.

Jake never really had any interest in becoming the king. He was more than willing to let Darren have that to himself, but I think he went back out of respect for his father. Besides, his younger two brothers weren't going to be able to give Darren much of fight, young and pup-like as they were.

Finn and Nin lived close to them, forty or fifty minutes outside of original town. They chose not to live with Michael and Lucifer, who often left Earth to travel to Heaven. God had finally given in and become accepting of their relationship, seeing how Lucifer was as pure as the angels he created.

Finn met a nice girl during that period of time, going into the year 2135 I think. A couple years later, he found out he had been dating a young fire fairy. Six months after that, they were engaged. Three months later, they were married, and two years later they were expecting a baby boy.

No one was _entirely_ sure what happened to Nin. He lived alone, but close to Finn. He visited all of us here and there, kind of like a drifter. There was a solid two years where he completely fell off the grid and _no one_ had any idea where he was. We started wondering if maybe he had run off to wherever Katie was, until one day, when we were all visiting the Wolfe Mansion, he just showed up like nothing had ever happened. He had come in, grin and all, his arms wide, laughing. He was surprised when he saw Taryn, Finn's wife, holding a young baby boy, but delighted.

He had gotten a beard, weirdly. Didn't really fit his baby face, but no one said anything about it.

A couple months after that, Nin sent us all postcards, with a baby on it. _Kathleen Omniel Merten_ , it read, _Born June 6_ _th_ _, 2144._

He had had a _fucking_ baby while he was gone. Whenever anyone asked who the mother was, he'd shrug and say he didn't know. They had left her on his doorstep with a note that said 'Yours'.

Idiot had slept with so many women he couldn't even pinpoint who her mother could be. It didn't help that she looked completely like a female version of her father, either.

I know a lot of us thought it, but none of us ever said anything about it. She looked so much like her aunt, the one she was named after. For a long while, I wondered if maybe Nin and Katie had… you know. But I quickly ruled that out, realizing that if Nin had found his sister, he'd have likely just _stayed_ with her.

By that point, Jake and Lady had already had eight kids (four sons and four daughters), and were still popping them out regularly. I don't know how Lady did it. If it was me, I'd have closed up shop a long time ago. I'd hate to be the one kid of theirs that suddenly realizes how much sex their parents must have, too.

Bonnibel and I had had our son a few years prior, Nathaniel Gilroy Abadeer, affectionately named after the lead singer from Bonnibel's favorite band and her twin brother. A year later, we had our little hellion of a daughter, Serana Lee Abadeer. That girl was _almost_ as much of a troublemaker as I had been, and that was already twice as much as I could handle.

She was a ridiculous kid, constantly poking her nose in places it didn't belong. Always curious and wondering, always wanting to be all over the place. It would've been cute if she couldn't move faster than any adult human and lift a small elephant with one hand. It made her almost impossible to find which made it incredibly hard to punish her.

Bonnibel and I didn't get a single moments of peace with her around. She was an adorable looking kid, but once you got passed that… well, by the time you realized what she was really like, you were probably too exhausted to even really think about it.

She was too much like me, I think. Nathan had gotten a lot of Bonnibel in him when he was born, but Serana had definitely gotten more of me. Nathan was an intelligent and driven young man, wishing to make a difference upon the world. He wanted to change things, the world, with the combination of science and magic. He was extremely talented at using his magic, with controlled thinking and concentration. He was at a level that that had taken me many more years to achieve. He had had no trouble controlling his vampiric side, ever. He could feed on pigeon blood and not complain; he had no real taste for human blood.

Serana, unfortunately, had gotten more of my genes. She had an immense amount of untapped, raw power in her. She was like a ticking time bomb. I always waited for the day she finally exploded and unleashed herself, and I had to step in and control her. She _hated_ animal blood and complained mercilessly when we tried to feed it to her. She wanted the _human_ stuff, the good blood. And if we didn't give it to her, she'd try to sneak off the island and get some for herself. She was borderline psychopathic, not ever truly understanding why we forced her to try to drink animal blood or why she couldn't have _fresh_ human blood, from a real _person._

Lucky for us, Eugene and Dean were born the same year as her. When they weren't getting one of their lessons, Marshall Lee did a great job of watching them. He could run around and play games with them for hours and hours, days even, sometimes. At the very least, it kept Serana entertained and out of my hair. He loved playing with the kids, having fun and screwing around in childish ways. He was an almost ideal dad, except for when he told them it was pretty cool to rip open a human heart or smacked them around when they did something stupid.

Honestly, I would've smacked them around too, if Bonnibel didn't get pissed at me every time I did. A pissed wife is not a happy wife, and an unhappy wife is most _definitely_ not leading to a happy life.

Sometimes I would join in as they were playing, when I wasn't going through loads of paperwork required to be the new "Queen of Vampires". I never understood why people started calling me that, considering my parents were still alive and every one still called Marshall the "Infamous Prince". Maybe it was because it rhymed. 'Marceline, the Vampire Queen'.

I have this one memory in particular of when the five of us played together. I had been walking through the rather large courtyard garden Bonnibel had been working on maintaining. She had several other young vampires helping her, sort of like apprentices learning the trade of keeping plants alive and which were good to use for certain things. I don't know, it always sounded like some witchy mumbo jumbo to me, and we had enough of those if you ask me.

I had just gotten finished working through population numbers, making sure I didn't have to unleash another plague on the world or go on a leech killing spree anytime soon. I was tired, in desperate need of a good stress-free break.

The garden was probably one of the most beautiful parts of our home. There were plants of all different kinds, from all over the world. It was colorful and vibrant, although the most dominant color was several shades of green. I was admiring the scenery when I found them.

"Mummy!" Serana shouted, giggling with glee as she saw me. I smiled and held out my arms as she sprinted at me with full speed. She quickly leaped into my arms with animalistic athleticism and I spun her around.

"Hello there, baby girl," I said, blowing air into her face. She laughed again, her eyes glittering and her cheeks rosy. "How are you?"

"Mummy, mummy, Uncle Marshall said that you and him know how to fly!" She said, her voice full of awe. "Is it true?"

"It _is_ true," I said, placing her against my hip and carrying her towards her cousins and uncle. "Uncle Marshall and I both have wings to use when we need to go high up into the air."

"Will I have wings, mummy?" She asked, her small little hands patting against my back. "Will I be like you someday?"

"I don't know yet, babe," I said, smiling at her. "I never really learned if the wings are genetic or just an unfortunate side effect of… well, being _us_."

"What happens if I get wings?" She asked, excited. "Will I be able to fly really, really high?"

"Well, you have to learn how to fly bud," I said. "But if that happens, I'd be more than happy to teach you."

"Really?" She said, with a smile. "You'll teach me? For really?"

"Yep," I said, with a nod.

"Can we go all the way to the stars?" She asked.

"Well, I don't know about that," I laughed, rustling her hair. "But, then again, I've never tested it. Maybe we can."

"I'm going to be the first vampire to go to space!" She said, excited. "I'm going to touch a star, mummy!"

"Serana, if you touched a star, you would burn to death," Marshall said, ever so tactfully. He was carrying his two sons on his shoulders, the two of them giggling and wiggling as Marshall held them with his hands. "Aye, hold still you two! Or I'll drop you on the ground and I won't kiss your boo-boos when you get scraped up!"

"If you did that, Daddy would yell at you!" Eugene said, knocking his father on the head with a tiny little fist.

"Oi, you little brat," Marshall growled back. "Do that again and I get to hit you back, whether or not Daddy likes it."

"Sorry daddy," Eugene said quickly, his eyes full of fear. "Please don't hit me."

"That's what I thought," Marshall said, with a nod and a grin. He turned to me, shaking his head. "See these nice little obedient kids I got? Trained 'em right, didn't I boys?"

"You don't train a kid, daddy!" Dean said, laughing like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. "You train puppies!"

"You guys _are_ my puppies," Marshall said, looking at his other son from the corner of his eyes.

"No Daddy! We're vampires!" Eugene said, laughing with his brother. "Not _werewolves_!"

"Werewolves aren't puppies either!" Serana interjected, flapping her arms to force them to pay attention to her. "Werewolves are born as people! Or else Aunt Lady would have had a litter."

"That's true, baby girl," I said, nodding. "Werewolves are born as human beings and the change occurs throughout their lifetime. It happens faster for some, and for others their wolf parent can quicken up the process."

"But what if a werewolf mates with another werewolf?" Dean asked, tilting his head to the side. "Would it come out a wolf then?"

"I… don't know the answer to that," I said, furrowing my eyebrows. "We'll have to ask your Aunt Bonnibel later, or give Uncle Jake and Aunt Lady a call."

"When is everyone going to come visit again?" Serana suddenly asked, playing with a few strands of my hair. "I like it when they all come to visit. Franklin's older brothers are really nice to me! They toss me high in the air, like I'm a bird! And, and Uncle Nin and Kathleen are lots of fun! Kathleen lets me touch her horns sometimes, and her little wings. She says one day they'll be as big as her daddy's! Are you and Uncle Nin the same, Mummy?"

"Yeah, yeah, Daddy, how come I've never seen _your_ wings?" Eugene asked, bouncing up and down on Marshall's shoulder. He earned himself a little whack on the leg and Marshall promptly dropped him. He landed on the ground with an 'oomph' on his back and frowned up at his dad. "Ow, Daddy!"

"I've told you not to bounce on me when I hold you," Marshall said, raising an eyebrow at his son. "And no, we aren't exactly the _same_ as your Uncle Nin. Yes, we are both demons and both hellwards, but there's a bit of difference in… classification."

"Classifinication?" Serana said, stumbling on the word. "But you guys don't go to class."

"Class-i-fi-cation, sweetheat," I said, sounding out the word for her. "It means to… to categorize, to define it sort of."

"Huh?" Serana said, looking at me dumbfounded.

"I know this!" Eugene said, springing back up on his two feet. "Daddy explained this to me before!"

"Other Daddy," Marshall mouthed at me, with a wink.

"A classification he action or process of classifying something according to shared qualities or characteristics." Eugene recited, puffing his chest out a bit. "For example, there are many different kinds of fruits. The reason they are all called fruits is because they are similar, but not the same."

"Well aren't you the little academic," I said, laughing. "Going to give Nathan a run for his money."

"I could never do that," Eugene said, his eyes wide. "If I was smart, my daddy would never let me leave the library! That'd be awful!"

"I feel you on that one, little buddy," Marshall Lee said, laughing.

"I hope I become like you, someday, Mummy," Serana said, looking at me with admiration. "I'm gonna be a vampire _and_ a demon. That'd be pretty badass!"

"We don't really know if you're a demon yet," I said, frowning at my daughter. "We haven't figured out how genetics and dominant and recessive genes work here. And don't say that word, it's a bad word!"

"Uncle Finn says it all the time!" Serana argued. "And Uncle Marshall! And _you_!"

"Well, we're adults, young lady," I said, sternly. "And adults can say certain things that you can't, you little shit."

Xx

Xx

 _Kelsey Pillion_

 _Does he really love me? Is he pretending?_

 _Man, I sure wish I had actually studied for that test, I definitely failed._

 _What is she thinking now?_

 _I hope my mom is proud of me, up there in heaven._

 _Lord forgive me, for I have sinned…_

 _Fuck this._

The voices in my head were relentless. All I wanted was to sleep, peacefully. I didn't even want to dream, I just wanted a few hours of calm blackness. But they tortured me as I rolled around in my bed.

I tried wrapping my pillow over my ears, but it was coming from inside of my head. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Did that bump to the head fuck me this badly? Was I becoming a schizophrenic?

It was like I was simultaneously hearing the entire worlds voices, echoing and screaming in the very back of my head. I couldn't get them to be quiet, no matter how much I tried. I could barely form my own thoughts, the voices were so rampant.

I felt nauseous, throw up collecting in the pit of my stomach. I was sweating, profusely, and my head felt like something was squeezing and banging. My skin felt like it was on fire, my blood cold as ice.

Every muscle in my body hurt, and I had no idea why. Obviously, I was sick. I had absolutely no idea how I had managed to get sick, though. Maybe I had managed to get a cold that night I had gone out with my friends. Had it been cold? I had no idea, I was too wasted to even feel temperature that night.

The only distinct thing I remember was the way it felt when Serana's hands touched my skin, the way she sent electricity sizzling through my body and idiosyncratic fire through my veins. I wouldn't ever be able to forget the way I felt when she held me up against that wall, desperate and needy. Needing _me_.

It made me feel powerful, in a way. Knowing that such an obnoxiously gorgeous girl wanted me that badly. The way she breathed like she couldn't get enough oxygen in her lungs and the way she looked at me like she wouldn't ever be able to look at me enough.

It was only a little bit later that I realized that she was probably tipsy, and she also probably desperately wanted to bite into my neck.

A vampire? Seriously?

How did something like this happen to me? I was just a normal girl, with normal abilities and a normal life. I wasn't exceptional in any way. I didn't have a glowing personality or even an overly mean or aggressive one. I wasn't pretty, I wasn't ugly. I wasn't smart, but I wasn't dumb. I was literally the definition of the middle of the pack, and yet something so randomly extraordinary was happening.

I wondered, for a while, if the real reason Serana paid so much attention to me was because maybe I smelled good. Maybe she just _really, really_ wanted a bite out of me. But when I thought hard about it (as hard as I could with this pounding headache), I couldn't bring myself to care.

Sure, if she had just come right out and said "I'm a vampire, let me bite your neck" I probably would've just laughed. And that probably would've been followed by shock when I realized she was telling the truth. But I wouldn't have been… well, mad. Or scared.

What did scare me, however, was how cold-blooded she had been when she had killed those men in the alley. No one with a heart could just so impassively kill another person. The tone of her voice, it had been so… so constant, so monotone.

I shook my head lightly, groaning. I didn't want to think anymore, it made my head throb violently. I was so tired, but I couldn't manage to fall asleep. I don't think I'd ever been more tired in my life. I literally felt so tired that if I didn't sleep soon, I might actually die.

 _Can I get you anything, Kelsey?_

 _Kelsey? Hey. Answer me. Are you okay?_

 _Kelsey!_

"Kelsey!" I heard my sister shout through my haze. I slowly opened my eyes, exhausted, and saw her looking at me. She was worried, I could tell. She was holding something in her hand the other holding a tall glass of water. She let out a relieved breath as I looked at her. "Thank god. You scared me so bad, I thought you died. I brought you some Advil and water, okay? Take it."

"Thanks," I said, my voice hoarse. I took the pills from her, slowly swallowing them one by one with water. Attempting to breathe _hurt_ , and my throat was dry and swollen for some reason. "I don't know what's wrong. Everything hurts."

"I think we should call a doctor," Chelsea said, frowning.

"No," I said, quickly. "No doctors. You know I don't like doctors."

"Look, I know how you feel about them, mom always felt the same way." Chelsea pleaded lightly, kneeling by my bed. "But I'm worried about you. Like _really_ worried. You don't look good."

"I don't _feel_ good," I groaned, placing the glass of water against my forehead, praying to God that the painkillers would kick in soon. "No doctors."

"But," She started again.

"No doctors." I said, strongly.

"Fine," She said, sighing heavily. "At least let me ask Nathan to come look at you."

"Nathan is a scientist, not a doctor," I said, pursing my lips.

"A scientist who knows a lot about the human body," Chelsea responded keenly. "And _not_ a doctor. So you can't protest."

"Don't bother him," I said, waving my other hand at her weakly. "I'll be fine. He doesn't like to be disturbed."

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind if he knew how bad you are," She said, a heavy frown probably on her face. "He'd probably be mad if he knew you were refusing a doctor."

"I don't want to take him away from his work," I grumbled, just wanting to go to sleep. "Do we have any Benadryl?"

"Look, either we're getting Nathan or a doctor," Chelsea said, sternly. "Pick one."

"…fine," I said, sighing after a moment of silence. "Call Nathan. If he doesn't pick up, give up."

"Brilliant," Chelsea said with a victorious grin. She slipped her phone out of the pocket of her sweatpants, quickly tapped in a number and pressed the phone to her ear.

" **Hello?"** I heard Nathan's disgruntled voice say. " **Chelsea?"**

"Hi, Nathan," Chelsea said, sweetly. "Sorry to bother you while you're probably working."

" **Not at all,"** Nathan said, calmly. He paused and said; **"Is something wrong?"**

"I was just wondering if you'd be able to come over and take a look at Kelsey," Chelsea said into her phone. "She's… well, she's sick. Like, really sick. Possibly death bed."

" **What's wrong?"** Nathan said, sounding alarmed. **"What are her symptoms?"**

"Well, she's got a ridiculously high fever," Chelsea started. "Constant headache, nausea, muscle pain."

" **I'll be over in fifteen minutes,** _"_ Nathan said. **"Keep giving her fluids. Slowly, but consistently. Take a couple sips every minute. If you've got Gatorade, give her that, if not water will work."**

"Thanks so much, Nate," Chelsea said.

" **Of course,** " He said, and hung up.

"Godammit," I said, with a heavy sigh. Chelsea took the glass from me and I opened an annoyed eye at her.

"You heard him," Chelsea said, pressing the glass against my lips. "Drink."

"I can drink a glass of water myself," I grumbled, annoyed.

"You can barely open your eyes," Chelsea said, frowning heavily at me. Her eyes sparkled with worry as she glared down at me. "Drink."

"Ok, ok," I said, taking a small sip of water. The liquid felt amazing against my tongue, washing away some of the aridness that had been growing inside of my mouth. I could feel it go all the way down my throat, watering my windpipe. "Happy?"

"Far from," She said, still frowning. "How on Earth did you manage to get so sick?"

"I think my biggest worry is how I'm going to be able to keep up with all my fucking classes," I hissed underneath my breath.

"You'll be fine, I'll think of something, alright?" Chelsea said, sighing at my stubbornness. "Just get better, alright?"

"It's not like I enjoy feeling like a moist limp noodle," I said, another pain twanging off in my head. I grimaced, clutching my blankets. "Can I have some more Advil?"

"You can have _a_ pill," Kelsey said, reopening the bottle. "I'm not going to risk giving you liver poisoning or something because I give you too many."

"I'd take simple liver poisoning over this any day," I groaned as she placed a pill in my hand. I quickly swallowed it and chased it with a couple gulps of water. "Is there anything you wanted to inherit from me?"

"That's not funny," Chelsea scolded. "I wouldn't be able to go on without you."

"I'm sure you could figure something out," I said, snickering. "Besides, you'd still have Quinton."

"Quinton's been too busy hooking up with Kathleen to be anything short of useless," Chelsea said, rolling her eyes. "I had to kick him out yesterday when they tried to get it on in our house."

"Ugh," I groaned. "I would've actually died if I had to listen to one of their rounds."

"Speaking of rounds," Chelsea said, with a glint in her eyes. "Where did you and Serana disappear to last week?"

"Ugh, _please_ don't start this," I groaned, turning onto my side to face away from her.

"Don't think just because you're sick right now means you can avoid me forever~," She said, in a sing-song voice. "You get a pass now, but once you're healthy, you're telling me _everything_."

"Great, now I don't even know if I want to get healthy," I said, pressing my face into my pillow. "Maybe I'd rather drown in my own puke and sweat."

"That's… morbid and disgusting," Chelsea said, appalled. "I swear, sometimes I question if we're related or not."

"How could we not be twins?" I chuckled weakly. "Our faces are the same."

"You must be my clone," She laughed. "My weird, weird, _weird_ clone."

"If I was your clone, wouldn't I look _exactly_ like you?" I challenged. "And have your personality."

"Fair point, well made," She said. She hummed with thought for a second, before laughing again. "You must be a doppleganger, trying to make a new life for herself. Or maybe you're staying close to me so that you can _become_ me someday."

"Do you really think I'd dedicate _20_ years to do that?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "Since birth? You've seen the video."

"Oh god!" She moaned in horror, placing her hands over her eyes. "Now _I'm_ going to be sick, why'd you have to go and bring up that damn video? Ugh!"

"All I know is that it's not inspiring me to have kids any time soon," I said, with a small snigger. "God, that was the single most horrifying afternoon of my whole life."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door. Chelsea quickly stood up to get it, throwing me a quick 'I'll be right back, that must be Nathan'. I faintly heard her open the door and the two exchange greeting before soft footsteps made their way back to my room.

"She's in here," Chelsea said, walking back into my room. Nathan followed behind her. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt and brown pants, with a pair of loafers.

"Oh, not looking too good," He said, grimacing slightly as he saw me. He walked in as my sister sat down in my desk chair and kneeled by my bedside. "How are you feeling, love?"

"Sick," I simply said, my voice scratchy from the dryness.

"Descriptive, as always," He said, with a small laugh. He lifted a hand and pressed his wrist against my forehead, frowning. "You're running an awfully high fever, sweetheart. I'm surprised you're even awake, this might've knocked most people out."

"What can I say?" I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I'm a soldier."

"Why haven't you gone to a hospital?" He immediately followed up, looking closely in my eyes. I could see his pupils dilate and spark red a bit as he looked at me, and I wondered what he was doing.

"I don't like doctors," I stated.

"Ah, so you're one of those," He said, blowing cold air from his mouth. He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head at me. "You're definitely sick, although with what I can't say for sure right now."

"Amazing," I said, with a small sigh.

"I'd say, stay in bed, take a nice long nap for as long as you can, sweat it out a little bit." Nathan said, doctor-like. "Get up in a couple hours to take a _warm_ shower. Not hot, not cold, _warm_. A little bit above room temperature, just to get the sweat off your body. I think you might just have a really bad cold, or possibly the flu."

"The _flu_?" Chelsea asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that contagious? Should I tell Quinton not to come back?"

"Yes," Nathan said, turning to her, a hand on one of his knees propping him up. "And I'd say you should go a friends house as well. I'll make sure to take care of her."

"Are you sure?" Chelsea said, frowning. "I mean, I don't mind taking care of her, I am her sister."

"I'm worried it might be highly contagious, and getting this sick at the same time would probably just be troublesome for everyone involved," He said, with a small smile. "I have no problem with taking care of her. I have some experience in the medical field."

"Aren't you worried _you'll_ catch it?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"I take a lot of vitamins and the sort," He said, shaking his head. "I've never gotten sick. Can't see why the streak would break now. I'd like you to get out of here sooner rather than later, however. The longer you're here the more time it has to spread to you."

"Okay, okay, okay," She said, with her hands held up as she stood. "I'll go pack."

"Thank you," He said, politely nodding as she got up and left the room. She threw me a worried glance as she walked out of the room, before walking away.

"How do you know it's airborne?" I asked curiously. "Can doctors tell that sort of thing?"

"No," he said, looking at me with a small laugh. "Doctors can't tell that sort of thing right away. I focused my eyes, I can see the little tiny particles floating through the air."

"You _focused_ your eyes?" I said, shocked. "I mean, like, aren't they miniscule."

"You'd be shocked what the supernatural body can achieve," He said, chuckling. "Take a nap. I can tell you're tired."

"I'm exhausted," I said, slowly blinking my eyes shut. I could see him stand up through my half lidded eyes and then I closed them completely.

I swear I wasn't asleep that long. Ten, maybe twenty, minutes or so. I got a few moments of peace before the damned voices started up again. I was slowly getting better at blocking them out, though.

I focused on taking deep breaths at first, distracting myself from them. I thought maybe if I made my thoughts louder, they'd start going away. Or maybe if I tuned them out they'd be less forefront in my mind. It was taking a lot longer than I would've liked it to, but my head slowly started pounding less and less.

I saw in my bed for thirty minutes, simply focusing on quieting my mind, before I got tired of it and decided it was time for a break. When I finally decided to open my eyes again, the first thing I saw was Serana standing in my doorway. She was wearing a sheepish smile, awkwardly holding a plastic bag with her shoulders shrugged up a bit.

In my sickness-induced haze, I could still tell how attractive she was. She was wearing a pair of black pants, that clung to her legs only slightly, and her Timberlands. She had on a loose cloth red t-shirt, with some graphic design of a black cross on it, accompanied by a black Volcom military jacket that she had zipped up halfway. Her hair was out, stretching down along her back, the top of her head confined by a _Chicago Bulls_ cap.

She had on her black backpack, with the red stripes and held a plastic CVS bag as well. She stood in my doorway, watching me with curious eyes, refusing to step inside of my room.

Xx

Xx

 _Serana Abadeer_

"It's you." She said, plainly and simply.

"It's me," I said, with a pathetic attempt at a smile. She squinted at me, frowning. I held up the plastic bag as an offering. "Chelsea texted me and told me you were super sick. I brought you some more Gatorade and some Benadryl. Extra strength shit, I heard you haven't been sleeping great."

"Oh thank God." The relief in her voice was obvious, and I smiled. "You're saving my life."

"That's what I'm here for," I said, shrugging as I stood in her doorway. She gave me a look, and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not supposed to have to invite you in, right?" She murmured, her voice a little hoarse. "You're supposed to be able to come and go as I please."

"Not if I'm trying to be a _polite_ ," I said, with a small exhale. "Which is what I'm trying to be right now."

"Said the cold-blooded killer," Kelsey mumbled. "You can come in."

"I'm _not_ a cold-blooded killer," I responded, walking into the room. She flapped one of her hands open and closed at me, and I reached into the plastic bag I had. I opened the Benadryl, ripping open the box. I popped two pills from the paper/plastic packets and handed them to her, along with a Gatorade.

"You're right," Kelsey said, with a doleful little shrug. "I don't know if you're cold-blooded or not. My mistake. How _does_ your internal temperature regulation work?"

"I'm _colder_ than humans, Miss Smarty Pants." I said, sighing. "Blood still circulates through my body, albeit not at as high a temperature as human beings."

"Doesn't that not make you undead at all?" She asked, throwing pills into her mouth, chasing with Gatorade. She swallowed and looked somewhat relieved.

"It's… complicated," I said, crossing my arms. "And you don't particularly look like you're in the mood to take in any complicated information, love."

"That…" She said, trailing off slightly. "Is completely correct. A+, Ms. Abadeer."

"Finally, I do something right," I said, chuckling lightly. She laughed a bit, before wincing at the air passing through her pained lungs. I sat down by the side of her bed, watching her with interest. I took my backpack off, leaning against the wall adjacent to her headboard. Her breathing was uneven and I could physically hear her wheeze every now and then. She was sweating like a horse; her eyes squeezed shut in discomfort. "Hey so… odd question, but do we actually know what's wrong with you? And by we, I mean you, because I obviously don't really know."

"Nathan think's it's a really bad cold," She said, slowly. "Possibly the flu."

"I see," I said, watching as she shivered a bit, before sighing against her comforter. "You have a fever?"

"I think so," She mumbled, sleepily. I leaned over and placed the back of my hand against her forehead, and she let out a long breath. "Your hand is so cold."

"Ah, sorry," I said, quickly removing myself from her. "You feel like you're on fire."

"Put it back," She grumbled, frowning. "It felt good."

"Did it?" I said. "Do you want me to go get you an ice pack or something?"

"No," She said, her words slurring slightly. "Just… just come here."

"Uh, okay," I said, edging closer to the bed.

"No," she grunted, sounding annoyed with me. She opened her eyes at me, half-lidded with illness and exhaustion. "Come _here_."

"Huh?" I said, confused. I was as close as I was to her bed. "I'm right here."

"Your body is cold, right?" She asked, her forest green eyes muddy.

"Well, it's not freezing but compared to you I guess so," I said, with a small shrug.

"Mmmm," She groaned, before lifting an arm underneath her blanket. "I'm too hot."

"If only you knew the ridiculous truth to that statement," I muttered under my breath. It was a bit vexing how appealing I found this girl. It had started as simple interest, seeing her reading in the library and smelling her. I figured no one _boring_ would smell like ash and roses, and make it pleasing. But, slowly, I had found myself being sucked in.

"Make me cold," She practically begged. "Help me bring my fever down. Balance me out."

"Uh, are you sure?" I said, cautiously.

"Get _in_ here," She growled, glaring at me.

"Okay, okay, I get it," I quickly replied, defeated.

"Do vampires get sick?" She asked in a hushed voice. I slipped into the blanket underneath, her stiff as a piece of wood. She dropped the blanket on top of both of us as I lay next to her, my arms plastered to my side.

"No, not really," I said, with a small shrug. "Our body functions at a temperature that's inhabitable for most viruses and bugs, so they usually die out within an hour. And that's _if_ they get in, considering our skin is mostly impermeable. Steel-like, I think. And besides that, our pain tolerance is so much higher than a normal human body that if something did manage to live in our bodies, we would likely just not notice it."

"That sounds… really smart," She hummed, placing her forehead against my shoulder. I swallowed, her warm body radiating heat rapidly underneath the thin blanket. "Take off your jacket, it's too warm with it on."

"I heard it from Nathan," I admitted, and she laughed. I, clumsily, made to move my arms so that I could remove my jacket as she asked. She lifted her head for a moment to let me slip it off and throw it on the ground, before returning her head to its spot. Her warm skin touched my flesh, and I heard her happily sigh.

"So… you couldn't have gotten me sick," She said, her body nestling a little closer to mine.

"Ah," I said, feeling flushed as I remembered _that_ night. "No. I don't think so, at least. Unless I possibly had living viruses or bacteria in my body, which is highly unlikely."

"In?" She said. "You're the blood drinker, not me."

"Sickness can be transferred via all internal fluids," I said, uncomfortably. I felt too much my brother when I explained stuff like this. "Like saliva."

"Oh," She said, with a small giggle. The sound rang in my ears like little fairy bells. "Do you think you were sick?"

"I sure hope not," I said, frowning.

"It's not like _you'd_ get sick," She responded, her breathing slowly becoming more even.

"I wouldn't _really_ enjoy being the reason you're so sickly, love," I said, staring up at the ceiling. My hands awkwardly patted against my legs, unsure of what I should do with them. "You look pretty bad."

"Glad to know," She said, slowly. "You care so much."

"If I didn't make it embarrassingly obvious that I care before, I don't know how you've been interpreting my child-like antics to be around you," I said, pursing my lips as I thought about it. "I can only imagine they'd come off as stalkerish."

"I just thought that maybe you were that nice to everyone," She said, her hand weakly grabbing the bottom hem of my shirt. "Or that you were plotting to kidnap and/or murder me."

"And now?" I asked.

"I'm not so sure about the second one, still," She said, laughing.

"I promise you, I have not once planned to kidnap _or_ murder you, or any combination of the two," I said, laughing with her. I could feel her shake ever-so-slightly while she giggled softly.

"So, you're not gonna kill me?" She asked, her voice soft and sweet like velvet.

"No?" I said, frowning. "Did you think I was going to?"

"Well, I started thinking," She began explaining, her voice low with sleepiness. "That… that maybe you were just hanging out with me because you wanted to take a bite out of me. A big bite."

"Ah," I said, understanding where she was taking this. "Well, I admit, the reason I first noticed you was because of how good you smell. I was walking into the library to take in my surroundings, get a gist of the people here, and I just got this huge whiff of… uh, you."

"Me," She hummed. "I smell good?"

"Good is probably an understatement," I said, licking my lips nervously.

"Do you want to bite into me right now?" She said, so plainly and simply. My blood froze in my veins, I swear.

"That's… a bit of a complicated question," I said, taking a deep breath. "Is there a part of me that wants to… that wants to know what your blood tastes like? I'd be lying if I said no, but there's a bigger part of me that just… doesn't."

"How does that work?" She questioned, her voice becoming lower and lower.

"I… don't really know," I said, frowning. "It's just like… this feeling in the back of my head would never actually let me sink my teeth into you."

"Maybe," She said, slowly. "That's your conscious."

"Don't know if vampires have one of those," I laughed, humorlessly.

"I wouldn't know," She said, with a weak little shrug. She gave one small little last hum, and fell into a slumber.

I listened to her, for a while. Her labored breathing, the small wheezing that came from her lungs. Her heartbeat was steady, although a little bit faster than normal. Her body as cooling down, though, no longer at the outrageously burning temperature it had been before.

I looked around at her simple room. The walls were painted a light calming blue. There were four even walls surrounding the room, a perfect square. There was a closed closet door a few feet from the foot of the bed. She had a desk right to her closet, and a bookcase next to that. It was filled with all sorts of things, mostly classic literature and novels.

Suddenly, I felt a disturbance in the air. I tensed for a moment before I recognized it. As unwelcome as the guest was, I relaxed. There was no reason to be so tense around my goody-two-shoes brother. I blinked.

"Serana," Nathan said, sitting in her desk chair, his legs crossed one over the other. He eyed me with older-sibling-like contempt, a heavy frown on his mouth and a dip in his brow. He slowly tapped his fingers against her desk without making a sound.

"Nathaniel," I said, frowning back at him, sending him the nastiest glare I could. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm making sure she's okay," Nathan said, with a small sigh. "I _am_ the one they called to check up on her."

"And you did, so you're not needed anymore," I responded, in a hushed voice, trying not to wake her up.

"Oh, so if she suddenly gets worse, you'll know how to treat her?" Nathan said, raising an eyebrow. I scowled back. "That's what I thought. I think the better question is what are _you_ doing here?"

"Kelsey is _my_ friend," I stated.

"Does she even want you here?" He asked, his lips forming a thin line across his jaw. "Didn't you kill five men right in front of her, without batting an eye?"

"I… yes, I did," I said, sighing with frustration.

"Have you even _apologized_ yet?" He asked, raising his golden judgmental eyebrow over his dark eyes. I wanted nothing more than to leap up and rip out his throat at that moment, but moving would've woken up the sick girl, so I simply gave him a low growl. "Oh, sorry, did I touch a nerve?"

"Can you just leave me the hell alone?" I spat back, annoyed.

"Not if I might have to clean up another one of your messes," He said back, meeting my glare with an unyieldingily stern scowl.

"Oh, problem solved," I said, rolling my eyes. "There isn't going to be another mess."

"Really?" He said, unconvinced.

"Really," I repeated, firmly.

"And what makes you so sure?" He said, leaning forward in his seat. "You have an _uncontrollable_ appetite, Serana, and a sense of apathy that rivals our _grandmothers_ sometimes."

"Because I won't," I said, with a small 'humph'. "I said I won't, so I won't."

"That…" He said, breathing heavily through his nose. He shook his head, scratching his hair as he sighed with exasperation.

"Besides, she'd wake up if I moved," I said, nudging my head in Kelsey's direction. "So, even if I wanted to, I can't."

"Why not just take a bite out of her?" He asked, frowning back at me.

"No," I snapped, quickly. "I wouldn't do that."

"Why not?" He said, gesturing towards her with his eyes. "She smells quite appealing, doesn't she? I mean, I noticed from the second I walked into our house, that night you had her over."

"I wouldn't do that." I said, again, brusquely.

"Eugene and Dean have said she smells better than the normal human as well, I asked," Nathan said, narrowing his eyes at me. "It surprises me that the vampire with the least restraint, out of the four of us, is the one lying next to this girl. Underneath the same blanket, with her head resting against you. You could easily flip over and just sink your teeth into her, and yet there you lay, stiff as a board."

"I _wouldn't_ bite her," I hissed.

"Why _not_?" He pushed.

"Because she's my friend," I responded, glowering back at my brother darkly.

"That hasn't stopped you before," He said, his voice low and taunting. "Or did you forget what happened to poor little Jyestha?"

"It was an accident," I hissed back, the tightness in my body steadily building up with my rage. "I didn't _mean_ to."

"That's just it," He said, widening his eyes at me as if he was waiting for me to make a revelation. "How am I supposed to know you wont have another accident?"

"Because it's different," I said, stopping my breath. I realized that with anger, my breathing only quickened, violently, and I worried that would wake Kelsey.

"How?" He continued to push. " _How_ is it any different?"

"Because it just _is_ ," I spat, thoroughly annoyed. "It just is, okay? I can't tell you why, it just is."

"That's not good enough for me," He said, licking his teeth as he rose to stand up. He walked out of the room, a frown on his face, before turning back to look at me. "I'll be in the living room. Get me if anything changes."

xx

xx

 _Kelsey Pillion_

I was dreaming. I didn't know how I knew, but sometimes you just get that feeling, you know? I was dreaming, but it felt so _real_.

I was walking around a large cavern. It was dark and damp, but still sizzling hot. My feet were slowly getting singed with every step that I took. I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of my eyes, no light was shining in here, wherever I was.

The air here was wrong. Goosebumps lined my skin, the small little hairs along my body standing on edge with unease. I smelled like… molten and ash here, like someone was taking road kill on the highway and throwing it into a bonfire.

My fingers slowly traced along the side of the cave. The wall was bumpy, small little pieces of stones sticking out from it. It was cold too, much colder than the air around me.

 _Entering my den, eh, lass?_

The voice made me uneasy. There was something about it. Like everything evil had managed to be tied up into one deep chuckle that echoed and resonated against the walls that trapped me inside my own dreams.

I continued walking, my bare feet burning against the ground. I thought you couldn't feel pain in dreams, but I was beginning to feel the heat searing through my skin.

 _That's unwise, little girl. I wonder how it is you found me… Hedone, is it? Ah, you wouldn't go by that name. Greek gods and the like are such old news._

I swallowed dryly. My mouth was on fire, I desperately needed even a drop of water. Even through the haze of my dream, I could feel my sickness start to seep back into my bones.

 _You'll end up being just like_ **HER** _. Wont you? That'd be an awful shame, though. Aye, playing with my toys is pretty fun when they fight you, but it's much easier when they're simply obedient._

I could see a light at the end of the cave. I didn't know if I could keep walking, I felt so tired, but something told me that if I stopped now I would never make it out of here. And _here_ didn't seem like a great place to stay.

 _You can run, lass. Run, run, run. But you can't hide. You may be able to hear my thoughts, but now I_ know _you can hear me. And… I'll find you._

I picked up my legs as fast as I could, letting my hands come off the wall as I quickened my pace.

 _I have a feeling you'll be more fun. You and your new little group. Much more fun than the last one…_

The voice started to chuckle again as I reached the light. The deep sound reverberated in my head as my body began to feel relief, hitting the light. I dove right into it, headfirst, desperate to get out of there, wherever _there_ was.

Xx

Xx

I woke up with a start, a small gasp escaping my body like a ghost. I was in a cold sweat, my heart going a million miles per minute.

"Bad dream, freckles?" Serana's voice said, and I suddenly remembered that I had told her to crawl into bed with me. I looked up and flushed as she looked back at me. She was lying underneath my head and had somehow managed to sneak her arms up and under the back of her head. She frowned as she looked at me, concerned wrinkles lining her forehead.

"Strange dream," I said, trying to steady my breathing. "I'm sorry for making you lay here like this, I was a little delusion with sickness."

"I don't mind it too much," She said, with a small smile. "You kind of do this little funny grunt thing when you sleep. It's cute."

"I do _not_ ," I said, frowning at her.

"You _do_ ," She snickered. "It's kind of like when dogs bark in their sleep, but in a human way. Without it being talking in your sleep. I don't know, it's hard to describe. Next time I'll take a video."

"Next time?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you saying you don't plan on letting me be your permanent cold water bottle?" She said in mock shock. "You were just using me!"

"Oh, cut it out," I said, rolling my eyes. "I just said I was delusion, I was probably half a minute away from hallucinating."

"Man, that probably would've been super fun to watch," She responded, snickering. "You feeling any better?"

"I…" I started, realizing for the first time since I had woken up that my body didn't feel like it was on fire and my head wasn't lighting up with a constant stream of random disembodied voices. "I actually feel great. A million times better."

"Seriously?" She said, with a smile. "That's great!"

"And now that my mind isn't foggy anymore," I said, frowning at her. "I'm realizing I've got a murderer in my bed."

"Ah," She said shortly, her smile falling uncomfortably. "I… I'm very sorry for what happened that night. I… well, I'm assuming you know what I am by now."

"I do, even if I don't quite get it." I said, with a small nod.

"I just… well, I lost control." She said with a heavy sigh. "Eugene and Dean and Nathan, they've got it pretty easy. They don't have much issue controlling it, but me? I don't know, I'm a little more like a wild animal."

"I don't get it though." I said, frowning deeper. "How do they have a better ability to control it?"

"I'm not sure," She shrugged. "Genetics?"

"Come on, I want serious answers," I said, sternly. "This is a weird situation for me."

"Alright, fine," Serana said, her resolution glowing around her like an aura. "Ask me whatever you want. You'll get one hundred and ten percent honesty."

"Just like that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in question. I sat up, my blanket slipped off me a bit as looked at her as she remained lying against my pillow. "Anything I want?"

"Just like that, anything you want," She said, grinning back at me, her eyebrows raised. I flushed as I realized the double meaning behind her words and shook my head.

"Alright," I said, with a hum in thought.

"Alright?" She said, her grin widening.

"Not like that," I said, rolling my eyes. I looked at her as I thought of a question, scratching my chin a bit.

"Has anyone ever told you that you tend to pout your lips when you think?" Serana asked, tilting her to the side as she looked at me. She looked at me like I was one of the most interesting things in the world, with absolute fascination and awe, and I still wasn't sure how I felt about it.

"Uhm, no," I said, making a show of purposefully pursing my lips together into a thin line. "I didn't realize I did that."

"It's cute," She said, smiling back at me. I blinked. It was confusing how she seemed so innocent sometimes. She just seemed so pure and happy it made me almost forget that she was a… well, a vampire. Creature of the night, capable of snapping my neck in half with her thumb. "Think of a question yet?"

"Yeah," I said, with a small nod. I fiddled with my thumbs, looking down at my hands as I cleared my throat. "How long have you been a vampire?"

"My whole life," She chuckled, her chest slightly shaking as she did so. "I was born a vampire."

"How does that work?" I said. "Don't vampires turn into vampires because they get vampire blood in them or whatever."

"I was born with vampire blood in me," She responded, looking at me with a small frown, like that should've been something that was obvious to me. "My parents are both vampires."

"How can vampires have kids?" I asked. "I mean, aren't you guys _dead_?"

"My mother is extremely talented with magic," Serana said, shrugging. "Us royal blood line vampires are technically dead, but we age until we stop puberty."

"Vampires can use magic?"

"Yeah," Serana said with a small nod. "Well, some of us. There's a fair amount of thralls who can't, their blood gets too diluted. All of the originals have it in their ability, but sometimes thralls or rogues lose too much blood, meaning our blood gets lost from their system."

"Can _you_ use magic?"

"Yep," She said, popping her 'p' slightly. "I'm not really all that great at it, to be honest. Nathan's got infinitely better control of it than I do. He says its all about 'controlling your imagination' or something like that."

"Can Eugene and Dean?"

"Eh, yes," She said, shrugging a bit. "They don't have as much natural ability to use it, though. See, my mom's got like a _huge_ reserve in her blood for magic, which then was spread to my brother and I. My uncle doesn't. He's more of a brute strength, fast feed kind of guy. The muscle."

"What's your uncle like?" I asked.

"That's… a long story," She said, laughing. "He's… he's an interesting guy. Not a guy I'd readily introduce you to, though. A little on the dangerous side."

"So he's a bad guy?"

"No, no," She said, shaking her head. "He… he just has a harder time being who he is, I think. I mean, the way my mom used to always describe it, the vampire side of him is stronger than his humanity sometimes. 'He's the most like you, little dude', is how she used to describe it to me. He can't always control the urges he gets, and he was born with some kind of weird… I don't know mental disease or something. I don't really understand all of it, but I know he's a good guy on the inside. Or, at least, inside the human part of him."

"But you're like him?" I said, tilting my head to the side.

"Yeah," She admitted, puffing out her cheeks like a small child. "In a lot of ways I am, I guess. But I'm different in a lot of ways too."

"Yeah?" I asked. "How so?"

"Well, to start with, he's a boy and I'm a girl," She said, with an impish grin. I rolled my eyes and she chuckled. "He likes to mess with people a lot more than I do, too. Goes out of his way to cause trouble a lot."

"And you don't?"

"I only cause trouble around me," She said, with a shrug. "I don't travel to go rain havoc and cause chaos all across the entire face of the planet."

"And he does?" I asked.

"He does," She said, with a shimmer of humor in her eyes. "Mostly trying to have fun, doesn't always realizing he's the only one having it though. He's an awfully good role model."

"Sounds like it," I said, sarcastically.

"He's got an awfully strange temper, too," She continued, moving an arm to start inspecting her nails. "He doesn't get _mad_ , per say. He… he gets weirdly ecstatic. Like, when someone does something wrong, it's almost like he's excited to punish them. It's scary, honestly. It's no fun being on the receiving end of that."

"So he's a sadist?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"He is _the_ sadist," Serana scoffed. "I don't think there's a man alive that like's to cause pain more than he does. Rumor was that there was _one_ person, over a hundred years ago. A really awful dude, my family will barely even mention him. Had to read about him in our family library. He traumatized my parents, I think."

"You've got a family library?" I said, breathing hot air out of my nose. "Of course; rich kid. Forgot."

"It's more of a 'Vampire Princess' thing than a 'Rich Kid' thing," Serana said, sniggering. "My mom's kept copies of _thousands_ of books. It's pretty impressive. Bookshelves are three stories tall, the place is _huge_. They keep historical records in there, too."

"What kind of historical records?"

"Uh, I don't really know," She said, thinking for a moment. "Some of the important stuff. There's a ton of old bibles and stuff. They've kept every war documented in there, every king and queen of any country. Every major conflict, too. They've got documents from _before_ Jesus Christ was born. It's a real pain in the ass to try to read though."

"Your parents have been around longer than Christianity?" I said, somewhat awestruck by this fact. She laughed.

"No, no, no," She said, shaking her head. "My _mom_ 's been around, her and her family. My… well, _other_ mom was born in the year 1995, a little less than two hundred years ago."

"You have two moms?" I said, this somehow being the most interesting fact I learned. "How did they make you? I mean, I know some people have figured out how to… how to fix genes and DNA and that sort of stuff, but do vampires even apply to that?"

"Magic~" She said, wiggling her fingers in my direction. "Anyways, I know I said I'd answer all your questions… but I'm getting bored. Talking about myself for long periods of time was never something I was very good at. "

"So?" I said, frowning.

"Let's take an interim," She said, jumping up with a happy grin. "Let's do something fun for a bit."

"Something fun?" I asked, giving her a bizarre look. "Like what?"

"I'll show you," She said, her grin spreading across her face. She leaped out of my bed and headed towards the door. She turned and beckoned for me to follow her. "Come on, come on!"

"What are we doing?" I said, trailing behind her as she quickly walked through my living room.. "Oi! Where are we going?"

"You'll see," She said, her smile bright and brilliant.

"Serana!" Nathan shouted, sitting on my living room couch. "Where _are_ you going?"

"It's fine! We're fine!" She shouted back as he started getting up. She led me through my front door and down the porch.

"Serana, she's _sick_!" Nathan shouted from the front door.

"I wont let anything happen to her! Besides, staying in bed all day is _boring,_ so if you were trying to bore her to death, I'm thwarting your plans!" Her sky blue eyes sparkled with some strange sort of glee. We stood on my front lawn and she extended a hand out towards me. "Do you trust me?"

"No," I said, crossing my arms.

"Come on," she said, pouting her lips at me. I sighed and put my hand in hers, that bolt of electricity passing between us.

"Fine," I hissed back at her.

"Great," She said, smiling nervously. She made a show of removing the ring on her other hand and placing it in her back pocket. Slowly, I saw her eyes change from blue to red, almost looking tie-dye for a moment. "Okay, now, the most important part of this is to make sure that you remain _calm_. If you panic, you may hurt yourself."

"Huh?"

" _Calm_ ," She said, again, and suddenly I felt something beneath my feet. "You remember how I said imagination controls our magic?"

"Yes," I said, looking down. I was standing on some sort of see-through board, now, hovering a few inches off the ground. "Oh my god. What's going on?"

"I'm extending a little bit of it to you, right now," She explained, calmly. Her hand stayed tight on mine, making sure I didn't fall over. "All you've got to do is focus a little bit, alright? You'll be fine. Deep breaths."

"What the fuck are we about to do?" I hissed, attempting to keep my balance.

"Have you ever ridden a skate board?" She asked.

" _No_ , Serana," Nathan hissed, walking down the stairs.

"Shut up," She said, rolling her eyes. She flicked one of her wrists at him and I watched as he went flying away, almost comically.

"Did you just _fling_ your brother through the sky?" I said, blinking at her, my mouth agape. "What the hell? I thought you said you weren't good at magic."

"I'm not very good at it," She said, shrugging. "That was simple wind pushing magic stuff, nothing too complicated. Now, back to my original question; do you know how to ride a skateboard?"

"But you jus-" I started again.

"Ah! Nope!" She stopped me. "Answer my question."

"No." I responded, curtly.

"Oh." She said, suddenly frowning. "Well, it's going to be a little bit harder to learn then, but it's not that hard."

" _What_ will be hard to learn?" I said, exasperated.

"Mind boarding," She said, with a grin. "Just don't let go of my hand for now, okay? I won't let anything bad happen to you."

"What are yo-" Suddenly, we began moving. I felt my legs about to give from underneath me, only for her hand to move me in the right direction to stay upright. "No, no, no, no, _no_."

"Center your weight," She said, encouragingly. She was looking at me with this almost puppy-like joy that made it hard to stay mad at her. I sighed, accepting defeat. We continued to move horizontally, slowly.

I felt as I started to get used to being on this… _mind board_ or whatever. I could stand upright while we were moving without feeling like I was going to fall off.

"Good, good, you're doing great, sweat heart," She said, cheerfully. "You won't fall off. They're… well, they're stuck to your feet. As long as your thinking about where you want to go, though, you should be able to move in that direction. It's just about focusing."

"I'm going to hurt myself," I said, pessimistically. "I'm going to still somehow manage to fall flat on my ass."

"I wouldn't let that happen," She said, her eyes sparkling. "Just look at me, alright? Focus on following me."

"I… I…" I said, wanting to protest how idiotic and crazy this seemed. I, however, could only manage to grunt in defeat as she looked at me with that dazzling grin and that child-like glee in her eyes. " _Fine_."

"Alright, let's have a little fun with this," She said, slowly letting go of my hand. I swallowed nervously, unsure of how this was going to go. "Eyes on me, alright?"

"Alright," I said.

"Here we go," She said as she slowly began moving again, on a slant this time, upwards. My heartbeat was going a million miles per minute, afraid that this was somehow going to end up being the last mistake I ever made. I made a point of keeping my eyes focused on the back of her head as she looked towards the sky.

We started moving a bit faster, making our way past the trees. Our boards were slowly becoming almost completely vertical, but I was getting used to it now. I didn't feel like I was going to go falling off, but I still bent my knees a bit to keep my balance. Her board glowed a bit as the sunlight hit it, making it look somewhat like a clear rainbow.

We were getting some real height now, higher than some of the two story houses on the ground. I had never really had a strong fondness of heights… in fact, one might call me an acrophobic.

I didn't ride planes. I'd never been on a Ferris wheel. I closed my eyes whenever someone was driving over a bridge, and I _refused_ to drive if there was going to be a bridge on the trip. I didn't like heights. The thought of somehow falling was terrifying; knowing that, on the way down, you were going to hit the ground and go **splat** just wasn't appealing. Even when I sat on my roof, I only stared up and I kept myself a safe distance from my window so I could grab onto it if I felt like I was slipping.

And so, as I found us beginning to go higher and higher, I felt my stomach begin to sink. I don't know if Serana sensed it, or if she somehow just _knew_ that something was wrong, but she looked back at me with an encouraging smile that seemed to make my worries… fly away.

"I wouldn't let you fall," She said, her voice warm and soothing the inside my chest. "I've got vampire magic."

"If I fall, then, my death is on _your_ conscious," I grumbled, keeping my eyes on her.

"If you died, I'd simply go retrieve your soul and bring you back to life," She said, her eyes sparkling. "Come on, your getting the hang of it."

We were higher than all the buildings in the area now, even the clock tower that stood right smack dab in the middle of campus. I expected the air to be colder up here, but it was unexpectedly warm.

I felt comfortable by this point. Like… like the board and I were almost one. I dared to look away for a moment, to look down below.

"Oh my god," I said, stopping my board from moving up.

"Don't you know that you're not supposed to look down?" Serana's voice said, a little further ahead of me.

We were much higher up than I thought we were. The people below us looked like tiny little ants, and a thin cloud began to pass around my torso. The sun was beating down and I noticed a small little glimmer on my skin.

I shook my arm, confused. Tiny water droplets speckled my skin as the cloud passed by, but I felt happily warm and dry.

"It's just a small layer of protection magic," Serana explained, soaring circles around me. "You're human, so you'd probably freeze and dry of lack of oxygen up here."

"What about you?" I asked, noticing that she didn't have the same glimmer on her skin. She continued to easily glide around me, flipping her board upside down. Her hair hung below her as she smile back at me, sailing through the air like a warm knife through butter. "You don't… shimmer."

"Don't need it," She said with a small shrug. "I'm a vampire. Don't require oxygen like you mortals, and I don't mind the cold too much. The bitter freezing cold reminds me that I can feel pain, keeps me humble. Besides, if I shimmered I'd just be supporting the twilight vampires, and that's the last thing I'd ever want to do. I don't _sparkle_."

"I always thought if vampires were real, they'd be kind of offended by those books," I sniggered, slowly gliding through the air. I was moving at a steady pace now, barely having to think about moving forward. "It was just a _little_ bit ridiculous."

"Offended is an understatement," She said, rolling her eyes as she did a small little roll. She floated over to my side, with an annoyed frown and raised eyebrows. "They were more like fairies. Over powered, over grown, over dramatic fairies. Blegh, a complete and utter disgrace. They weren't even romantic, just sappy and stupid."

"Isn't that the definition of romantic?" I asked, sticking my hand out, letting it float through the clouds.

"Maybe it is," She said with a shrug. "But that means I just want nothing to do with it. Ever."

"That's a pretty lonely proclamation, don't you think?" I said, raising an eyebrow in her direction as she continued to slowly glide in circles.

"I said nothing romantic," She said, rolling her eyes. "Didn't say I couldn't do _romance_. I don't plan on being alone forever and ever. I've got an awfully long life to live, it'd get boring by myself."

"Don't you think the two kind of go hand in hand?" I asked with a laugh. "I mean, they're both almost the same word."

"Bah, never mind the technicalities of it," She scoffed. "I thought we were on an interim! No more questions!"

"I'm not even asking questions about your… well, you know."

"My vampiric tendencies?" She said, drawling her words out like they were syrup. She laid her back down onto her board and began to fly around with her back towards the Earth. "It's a very boring subject to me, you understand. I've been forced to study it for eighteen years, to fully _comprehend_ it. It gets tiring after a while. I can't imagine how bad it'll get once I spend eternity."

"So then what _is_ interesting to you?" I asked curiously.

"Humans can be entertaining," She said, with a small smile in my direction. She held out a hand and a pair of ray-bans slowly started to materialize. She placed them on her face with ease, an easy grin on her face. She lifted a long finger and pointed it at me, the other hand behind her head. "You are exceptionally _fascinating_."

"Me?" I snorted. "How am _I_ interesting?"

"You seem like an… enigma of sorts," She responded, gracefully sailing through the sky.

"An enigma?" I asked back. "How?"

"I just thought of a fun game!" She suddenly shouted, lifting her glasses so I could see her eyes, grinning. "You want to ask questions about me or about vampires, and I want to know more about you. So, let's say every time _you_ ask me a question, I'll answer. But _only_ if you answer a question about yourself."

"Fine," I said, accepting her challenge with confidence. "Deal."

"Deal." She repeated silkily, with a boyish grin. "You go first."

"Are there a lot of vampires in the world?" I asked, my hair blowing a bit with the breeze caused by the board moving.

"A lot? Uh, that kind of depends by what you mean." She said, frowning with thought. "There's a decent amount of my kind. My family makes sure that the numbers don't get too high, but if vampires can learn to live in society peacefully without causing alarm or bringing attention to our kind, we leave them be."

"But couldn't yo-" I started, only to be stopped by a finger.

"Nope, my turn!" She said, waggling her finger at me. "Are Chelsea and Quinton your only siblings?"

"Yes," I said, with a small nod.

"Okay, ask away," She gestured for me to continue, staring up at the sun.

"Couldn't vampires easily over take the human population?" I asked. "I mean, obviously you have to keep humans alive to feed, but why not just treat us like cattle and rule the world?"

"Humans are God's favorite creatures," Serana explained. "And humans are what keep us vampires… well, human. Without the existence of humanity, we'd probably fall into an endless spiral of self-satisfaction and greed. And that would only lead to our extinction because we would all end up trying to kill each other."

"Ah," I said, pursing my lips with thought.

"My question," Serana said, with a smile. "Favorite color?"

"Red," I said, with a small frown. "Are you only going to ask me these kind of superficial one answer questions?"

"Well, I figured I'd slowly build up to the more personal ones, but if you'd like me to start them now," Serana said, with a small shrug.

"It's not very fun for either of us if you just ask _dumb_ questions," I answered, pursing my lips.

"Alright, fine," Serana said, lifting her eyebrows as she thought, sucking her bottom lip in. "How many significant others have you had in the past?"

"That's still a one answer question," I said, frowning harder. "You just made it more personal."

"And what were they like," Serana said, with a smirk.

"Oh, come on," I said, rolling my eyes. "Seriously?"

"Hey, I answered your question!" Serana said, raising her hands up to point at me. "You gotta answer mine, that's the rule."

"Fucking fine," I said, with a small sigh. "Four. I've had four significant others."

"Boyfriends or girlfriends?"

"A single boyfriend in ninth grade and the rest were… girls." I said, my face heating up.

"What was the boyfriend like?" She asked, earnestly. "Was he cute? Funny? Charming?"

"He was a good-looking guy," I said, with a shrug. "He was super nice, always opened doors for me and pulled out my chairs. He was super smart, ended up going to Yale and he was a three year varsity athlete on four teams."

" _But…_?" She asked.

"I'm a lesbian," I said in exasperation. "I wasn't attracted to him, so I eventually had to break up with him. Broke his poor heart, but I hear he's dating a nice girl now. We're still friendly, we hang out back at home sometimes."

"So he's not bitter about it," Serana stated.

"No, not at all," I said, shaking my head. "We were really good friends before, and really good friends after. I mean, for a little while he avoided me, but I think it was more awkwardness than like anger or anything. He was probably just embarrassed that he had known me for so long and didn't figure out I was, you know, into girls."

"So what were the other girls you dated like?" She asked with interest. "Were they, like, similar people or…?"

"Uh, well, they were all brunettes," I said, with a shrug. "With blue eyes."

"So I'm in the running?" She asked with a confident smirk.

"And they all, strangely enough, were _not_ killers," I said, sarcastically enthusiastic.

"Go figure," She responded, with an amused grin. "Must be why _I'm_ leagues above them. So what were they like?"

"Hey, don't you think you'd asked enough?" I suddenly stopped. "I mean, it's supposed to be a question for a question."

"Fair enough," She said, with a shrug. "Ask away."

"Have _you_ ever dated anyone?" I shot back.

"Nope," she said, popping her 'P'. I gaped at her and she snickered. "Shocked, freckles? Do I really seem like a relationship type to you? I just said I hated romance."

"So you've _never_ been with another person?" I asked, stunned.

"Depends on what you mean by _been with_ ," She said, sniggering impishly. "I've had a few one night stands, two or three 'friends with benefits'. Nothing _permanent_ though."

"So you've got commitment issues." I stated.

"Or," she said quickly, holding a finger up. She flattened her palm up towards the air and shrugged. "I just haven't found someone that can hold my attention that long."

"That's almost the same thing," I said, frowning.

"No," She argued. "I have _no_ problems committing to someone if they can keep me entertained. I just haven't met someone that can, yet."

"And when you do?" I asked.

"They wont be able to get rid of me, even if they want to," She said with a smirk in my direction. "Keep that in mind, love."

"Why would I n-" I started.

"I believe it's my turn," She said, stopping me short. "Forgive this but I enjoy my _superficial_ questions. What's your favorite TV show?"

"Uh, I don't know, that's a tough one," I said, with a small shrug and a frown. "Maybe _Vampire Diaries_? Chelsea and I have been binge watching it lately."

" _Vampire Diaries_?" She said, raising her eyebrows. "What incredible foreshadowing."

"How come vampires are like the ones out of the show?" I asked. "Or the way _anyone_ thought vampires were like at all."

"All vampire tales have truths and folklore in them," Serana said, doing a couple small barrel rolls through the air. "In the TV show, vampires were created by a powerful witch, right? Real world vampires were created by a powerful _demon_ , only a few centuries after the first true civilization formed, if even. A demon, by default, is usually going to be more powerful than a witch. I mean, witches are mortals."

"Witches are _real_?" I asked, astounded.

"Not relevant," She answered, shushing me by pressing a finger against her lips. "A lot of vampire stories have bits and pieces of the truth, but never the whole truth. We leeches do a pretty good job of keeping ourselves mostly under wraps, save for a few mishaps here and there. Take Dracula, for example."

"Dracula was a fictional story," I interjected, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Dracula was a real person… er, vampire," Serana said, quickly correcting herself. "He was a thrall of my grandmothers. He lived a great many years before his fabled tale."

"So it was a real story?" I asked.

"Parts of it were," Serana answered with a shrug. "He did die from being burned in the sunlight, which is where that rumor came from. He had been too diluted of pure vampire blood at that point, didn't have the supernatural ability to resist it and he'd lost his limiter way before that whole debacle. He could not, however, control minds. He was just very persuasive, a talent he had acquired from my grandmother and my uncle. He had been a charming young fellow, so I hear. Perfect eye candy, suave, sophisticated. His undoing was his love for women; he collected them like toy cars until, one day, a fiancé and a father sensed that there was something amiss about him. They found out about his secret, and killed him."

"How come vampires can't control minds, but they can do magic?" I questioned, confused. "I mean, I feel like you could use one to achieve the other, couldn't you?"

"Our magic isn't limitless," She said, simply. "We have limitations; no mind control, no ability to hear thoughts. We can't bend the world to our will, we can simply use our imagination and hope our powers can do it. Let's take…"

She paused for a second, thinking. She frowned before holding out a hand and produced an orange.

"Creation, for example. It's not _simply_ magic." She said. "I believe it's technically our powers seeping from our bodies and creating tiny explosions that create atoms that create an object that our mind projects. I don't really understand all the science behind it, though, you'd have to ask Nathan. Or my mom, she researched this stuff for _years_. She and Nathan work on it together, actually. Along with her brother."

"So… vampires are like a mixture of supernatural and science?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Not as mystical as one would think, eh love?" She said, with a smirk. "Am I taking away all the magic behind me?"

"I can't help but find that… even more interesting," I admitted, sheepishly. "I mean, who'd have thought that _vampires_ would have some sort of science behind them."

"Well, I happen to find _you_ incredibly interesting," She said, pushing herself up to stand on her board. She served around in front of me as I noticed for the first time that we were going back down to the ground. She wore a boyish grin, her eyes hidden behind her glasses underneath her curved eyebrows. "For a human, that is."

"Uh-huh," I said, disbelieving. "And what exactly about me could be so interesting?"

"I… can't tell you exactly," She replied uneasily. Her smile faltered as she began to put some thought into what she wanted to say. "I just… I just find myself wanting to know things about you. And when I learn something, it doesn't feel disappointing… it just makes me want to know more."

"And who said you couldn't be romantic," I said, with a snigger. "I'd almost say you were trying to seduce me."

"I'm pretty sure I've been successful with that, sweat heart," She said, chuckling.

"You have to do a lot more than just kiss me and take me on a flight around the sky to seduce me," I said, stepping onto the soft grass below my board. As my feet left the clear object, it fizzled slightly and then dissipated into the air. "Considering you _killed_ people after you kissed me… I'd say that it's going to take a little more effort on your part."

"On _my_ part?" She teasingly scoffed, stepping down in front of me. "And where did you get this bout of confidence, mmm?"

"Let's face it, I've got you wrapped around my finger," I said, laughing as I showed her my pinky over my shoulder, beginning to walk up my stairs.

"I kissed you and you get cocky," She chuckled back, following me. "Lovely. Especially considering you were interested in _me,_ first."

"Who ever said I was interested in you?" I said, looking over my shoulder, batting my eyelashes. "Maybe I just found you physically appealing. Pleasing to the eye."

"Then I guess I'm just going to have to force you to find my personality just as appealing," She said, with a grin. "How're you feeling, by the way? I didn't keep you out too long, did I?"

"I'd say, just long enough," I said with a satisfied hum. "I could definitely go take a nap now, but the fresh air felt good."

"Good," She said, smiling contently. We stood at my front door, having finished climbing the stairs. "Then I guess I'll leave you to it."

"You're leaving?" I asked, opening my front door.

"I _do_ have other things I have to do today," She said, laughing. "Like attend classes and homework. Oh, by the way, in the backpack, all your classwork for the weeks in there. I talked to your teachers, so you've got all the material and stuff and they'll give you extensions if you need it."

"You went to all my classes and got my stuff for me?" I said, shocked.

"Well, I figured you wouldn't enjoy being behind," She said with a shrug. "You don't strike me as the type who likes when people know more than her, even if you aren't a super scholar."

"That's… very true," I said, with a small smile. "Thank you."

"Not a problem, love," She said, smiling back. "I'll, uh… see you later then?"

"Oi! Serana!" A voice behind us shouted from down on the street. We both turned as a car horn honked and saw Franklin parked in a pick up truck in front of my house. "Don't we have math together right now? Want a ride?"

"Yeah!" Serana shouted, before bouncing down the stairs. She looked back at me over her shoulder, smiled and waved, and hopped into Franklin's car. The two drove away, towards campus, and I went back inside to cozy up in my bed, strange voices in my head long forgotten.

Xx

Xx

 _? ?_

My time _would_ come. I was trapped for now, but my time was coming. And it was going to come soon, I could feel it.

The world would soon bow to a new god. It wouldn't bend to the will of God or Satan. It would bend to _my_ will. _I_ would control the world, with my new family.

But first, the plan needed to be followed. Every single step. Step 1 possibly being the most important.

Xx

Xx

 _ **The Dark Hound**_ : Well, amazing others is what I aim to do.

 _ **aBubble:**_ Good ol' Lassie. What a great dog, dude. What guys are dead? Who died? I'm always the last to hear this news!

 _ **Lecoj03**_ : It? What's it? Man, is my mac and cheese bubbling over on the stove again? I always forget about it and leave it on there to long, godammit! And I mean, who _doesn't_ always love the original more. It's always the best.

 _ **Roses and Poison Ivy:**_ You know me. I love a good shit storm, they're the best man.


	5. Chapter 5

_Kathleen Merten_

When I was born into this world, I was fatherless. Less than a week later, I was motherless, left with my father who had previously had no idea I existed. I was left on the doorstep, in the winter. Two feet of snow surrounding the little spot my mother had dug out to leave me, wrapped in several blankets, crying in the cold.

She knocked on my fathers and then vanished for the rest of my life. He says that he opened his door, in an admitted half-drunk/half-hung-over stupor and almost missed me. He was closing the door when he heard my tiny little cries, picked up the little wicker basket I was in and brought me inside, befuddled.

He carried me inside, looked at my little face, and saw a folded white piece of paper on my abdomen. He took it with one hand, the other tight on the handle of the basket, and flipped open the note.

 _Take care of our daughter._

My father never figured out who it was that left me on his doorstep. He had slept with so many women that his mind couldn't possibly keep track of all of them. He never lied to me, he was as honest as they come by. He never pretended to know my mother, never pretended that he had any idea.

He never pretended that he loved me, though. He never had to.

I don't know much of my father's life before I was born. He was honest, but he didn't feel the need to tell me every single thing that had happened in his life prior to my birth. My friends and family, though, they said he was bad. But that he was much better after I was born.

He was depressed, self-loathing. A humanoid space of built completely of null existence, without a way to fill his empty heart. He was a demon with angel blood; he did things without a second thought. Selfish things, sadistic things, horrible things. But, after a while, when his mind wasn't addled with booze and drugs, he felt _pain_. He felt guilt, he felt sorry. His loneliness was… it was almost crippling. That was before I met him, however.

The father I remembering was always vibrant, full of life. They say he was even happier than when he was first 'born', when he was first able to split from my uncle's mind and take on a body of his own. My memories are filled with my father smiling.

He was not perfect, no father is. There were many times he simply didn't know how to handle me, how to be a single father. When I came home and asked about puberty, or the first time I asked to go to a party or brought home a boyfriend. He was lost most of the time, unsure of what to do. We did a lot of going over to my Uncle Finn's house and he'd ask them for advice.

But he tried his best. He taught me to be honest, to be kind, to be generous and loving. He told me that the world could be scary if I wasn't careful and how caution would always be key to dealing with things. But I think his most important lesson was friendship. He used to preach to me, incessantly, that friends would last a lifetime… even if the lifetime was much longer than one expected.

"My friends, little one, have been with me through the best and the worst of times," He said, my small body perched upon his knee. "And your friends will be just as loyal, I know it. Maybe you'll go on even bigger adventures than ours, do even more amazing things."

But more than friends, he told me, he wanted me to fall in love. Find a nice person, let myself feel unadulterated affection and the purest form of emotion, he said. He knew he couldn't protect me from everything, but if I could find someone who was just as willing as he was to try, then he'd feel assured.

I never really questioned who my mother was. I think I asked once or twice, and he was always completely honest with me, but my curiosity towards the subject didn't stretch very far. I knew I had my father and, quite frankly, he was all the family I needed.

I guess it wasn't a stretch to say I was a bit of a Daddy's Girl. When I asked for something, he bought it for me. When I was sad, he held me in his strong arms and told me that even though things might not seem like they were going to be okay, he would always be there for me. Every small accomplishment of mine made him the proudest man in the world, and he would beam and boast for at least a month afterwards. When I was happy, he was full of flee. When I was mad, he searched endlessly for the source and gave whatever it was a peace of his fucking mind.

So, that's my backstory, I guess. I mean, my life wasn't really super interesting. If anything, I might've been the most boring member of my group. Sure, having a single demonic dad is pretty weird, but have you seen my friends?

Princes and Princess' of vampires? Werewolves? Please, my cousin was half angel, half fairy. You can't tell me that that wasn't the least bit odd. I mean, I was pretty normal considering _them_.

Xx

Xx

 _Kelsey Pillion_

"And _so_ , understanding the basics of wheels, pulleys and levers is the most essential part of this class." Finnick said, pacing back and forth in front of his podium. He had a small little microphone clipped onto his shirt, allowing his voice to project all over the auditorium. "Finally, I'd like you all to get into groups of three or four for a small project, our _first_ project. We'll be making mousetrap cars, and your first assignment will be sketching out a basic design for how to you want to begin. You wont be required to use your first sketch, in fact I highly encourage you to continue editing your ideas as you move along."

He turned to his Teaching Assistants and quietly began asking them to hand out the stack of stapled papers he had in his bag.

"The TAs are handing out the outline for this project," He continued, putting his hands in the pockets of his roughly ripped jeans. "You're allowed to use as many and whatever materials are you want, but you _may not_ spend more than sixty-five dollars. I'm requiring that everyone bring their receipts and staple them to your sketches at the end of the project. Feel free to get creative, invent something crazy, decorate, whatever you want. Just know that the day your project is due, we'll be racing your car. The winning team will receive 100 extra credit points, second place will receive 99, 3rd place gets 98… so on and so forth!"

Finnick looked down at the wooden brown watch on his wrist and let out a small sigh of relief.

"Class dismissed," He said, smoothing his hair back with one of his large hands. The class simultaneously dispersed into chatter and idle noise and everyone packed up and got ready to leave the auditorium. "Project is due in two weeks! I _don't_ accept late work, either."

"So, _group_ ," Derrick said, slipping his backpack onto his shoulders. "Wanna go get some lunch?"

 _Do not ignore me…_

"I'm starving, dude," Franklin said, groaning as he pat his stomach.

"You in, Kels?" Derrick asked me, giving me a smile as the three of us began walking out of the classroom.

"I've been craving a burrito since class started," I said, causing the two taller boys to laugh.

 _Hedone…_ _ **listen**_ _to me._

"Amen, girlfriend," Derrick said with a deep, hearty chuckle. We stepped outside of the building and into the warm sun. It was a beautiful day out. Not too hot, but not chilly. The sun was sitting high above the sky, occasionally shaded by a thin cloud or two. The sky was as blue as ever, looking happy and vibrant.

 _Listen to ME_

I winced and threw on my sunglasses, cursing the incessant headache throbbing at my temples and the constant chatting going on in my head. I reached around my back, letting one of my shoulder straps fall off and grabbed a bottle of painkillers in a small front pocket on my backpack.

In a swift movement, I slipped the top off, poured a few into my hand and popped them into my mouth with a dry and, admittedly, painful swallow.

 _Don't… try… to… tune… me… OUT_

"Damn girl, you're going to hurt yourself if you keep guzzling those down," Derrick said with a worried glance. "I know you've been hanging around an a couple of supers, but you're still human dudette."

"It's my head," I said, with a frown. "Ever since… that night, I've been getting these awful headaches. And if I don't take the painkillers every handful of hours, I start feeling like a gigantic sumo wrestler is jumping up and down on my brain."

"Did you ever get checked out?" Franklin asked, his dark, furry eyebrows furrowed while he addressed me. "Like, by a doctor? You might have a concussion."

"No… I, uh, don't really like doctors all that much," I said, with a small shrug. "They freak me out."

" _Please_ don't tell me you're one of those _can't trust doctors_ people," Derrick said, with an exaggerated grunt. "What are they gonna do? Sell your records to the government?"

"C'mon Derrick, don't be an asshole," Franklin said, strictly, giving him a hard look. "Especially to a girl."

"Going to give me a gentleman speech?" Derrick laughed, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I'm half angel, my friend. My body hurts when I get too rude."

"Half-fairy, too, numbskull," Franklin grunted. He turned his attention back towards me and said; "Even if you don't like doctors, let Nathan check you out a bit."

"No, it's fine, I just bothered him with my flu," I said, shaking my head.

"And from what I hear he's still got a pretty close watch on you," Franklin said, holding open the restaurant door for me. The two boys walked in behind me and we went to stand in line to order our food. "He'll probably swing by your house, sometime around five or six I'd bet. Just ask him to check you out, alright?"

"Trust me, concussions suck," Derrick said, giving himself a small knock on the head. "I've had like five. Playing three sports in high school and being a college athlete will do that to a person."

"Especially bad for _mortals_ , who don't have supernatural healing abilities," Franklin said in a low voice, before we proceeded to order our burritos. We moved up to the register and I began looking for my wallet in my backpack.

"Please," A smooth voice said from behind me. A pale hand reached out and handed the cashier a ten-dollar bill. "It's on me. Keep the change, sir."

"I can pay for my own burrito, Serana," I said, scrunching my eyebrows at her. I frowned heavily at her as I held my tinfoiled burrito. "What're you even doing here?"

"I smelled you," She said, with a grin. Her long hair was done up in one of her typical messy buns, a few stray hairs pealing away here and there. She had on a black sleeveless shirt with a hood on the back of it. She wore a pair of black ripped jeans and some white slide on flip flops."Please. It's my pleasure, I don't have a problem sharing some of my wealth with you, love."

"What about me?" Derrick said, with a faux pouty frown.

"You've got money of your own, daddy's boy," Serana said, sarcasm in her voice. "You can afford a $7.45 burrito."

"Cold, man," Derrick said, paying for his food, laughing. "So much for old friends, picking new girl before me."

"I happen to like new girl quite a bit more than you," Serana said, walking next to me as we looked for a seat. "Sorry, chap."

"Serana, you'll talk to Nathan about checking Kelsey for a concussion, right?" Franklin interjected as we sit down at a square table. Serana sat across from me, Derrick on my side and Franklin in the last seat. "I may not have known you all that long, Kels, but I can already tell you're the type who wont ask for help on your own."

"Concussion?" Serana asked, narrowing her eyes at me with a frown. Realization hit her face and her frown deepened. "You hit your head that night."

"Yeah, pretty hard," I said, wincing as I thought about my cranium hitting the hard concrete again.

"Look into my eyes," She said, quickly staring at me intensely.

"Uh…?" I said, confused. "Okay?"

"Just do it… _please_ ," Serana said with a small sigh.

"Doing some _gazing_ into each others eyes?" Derrick snickered. "Don't worry, we'll leave you too it. Frank and I got some footsie playing to do."

"Do _not_ touch me with your foot." Franklin said, immediately scooting his chair back, throwing his friend a warning glance.

"Kelsey?" Serana said, forcing me to return my attention to her. I looked into her eyes and watched as her pupils dilated. I felt a surge of headache pass through me and I grimaced. Serana frowned and reached into her bag.

"What did you just do to me?" I asked, grabbing the side of my head. Another bullet shot through my brain causing me to twist my whole face in pain."Agh! It hurts."

"I did a little x-ray on your brain," Serana said, with a shrug. She pulled a ring out of her bag and placed it on the table. "Sent the image straight to dear old brother. Wear that, Nathan had it made for you back when you first got the flu. Had to wait a little while since my mum's a bit lazy, but it should help with the pain and soreness. He knew you were having headaches already, didn't quite realize there might be any brain damage. He just thought it was from being sick."

"Nathan had a ring made for me?" I said, raising my eyebrow at her. I looked at the small little thing. It had an intricate gold band, like it had been weaved from golden silk. There were small rubies lining it, and formed a small cross. I smiled a bit and said; "That's awfully sweet of him."

"Yeah, well, he's taken a liking to you," She said with a disgruntled frown. "Thinks you're, uh… you're interesting. And that you're good for me. For us. This group, I mean."

"Mhmmm," I said, with a satisfied hum.

"Don't act so smug, love," She said, hunching her shoulders and grinning at me. "It doesn't do much when I can hear your heartbeat."

"We can _all_ hear her heartbeat, Serana," Derrick said, rolling his eyes. "Supernatural hearing. Duh."

"You don't hear it like I do, fairy-boy," Serana grunted. "I can practically _feel_ the blood moving in her veins."

"That's not frightening at all," I said sarcastically, taking a bite out of my burrito. "Ugh, this is really hitting the spot right now. I didn't even realize I was so hungry."

"Dude, your burrito is _stuffed_ ," Derrick said in admiration. "A girl who can eat a burrito half her weight can never be a bad person."

"Quite the appetite," Serana said, chuckling. She gave my legs a quick licentious look and grinned at me, causing me to raise an eyebrow in her direction. "Where _do_ you put it? You can't weigh more than a hundo twenty something pounds."

"I'm not telling you my weight, if that's what you're trying to get at," I said, frowning at her. "And don't look at me like that. It's creepy, and it makes me feel violated."

"Hot," Derrick murmured out, giving the two of us a small look from the corners of his eyes. Serana glared at him and he just shrugged. "Oi, don't get mad, I'm just a normal healthy, young college man. Girl on girl action is _awesome_."

"Like mother like daughter, I guess," Franklin said, laughing.

"I am _nothing_ like my mother." Serana said, tersely. The air suddenly felt heavy and I swallowed, nervously.

"Touchy, touchy," Franklin said, with a click of his tongue. "You guys are more alike than you think, though. I mean, you almost look like twins."

"Shut _up_ , Franklin," Serana hissed, her eyes narrowing. "I mean it."

"Or what? You gonna beat me up?" Franklin challenged, his eyes dangerously flashing.

"Maybe I _will_ ," Serana snapped back.

"Alright, alright, calm down you two," Derrick said, peacefully. He looked at me with a look of apology and said; "These two tend to have a pissing contest every two seconds. It's a werewolf and vamp thing. You'd think having been friends all their lives they'd get over it, but, alas, no."

"Look, _pup_ ," Serana growled angrily. "I don't know who you think you are, but _I_ come from the royal bloodline of vampires."

"And I am a prince of Wolves, leech," Frank snarled back, his mouth beginning to foam slightly. "You're not the only special one, dumbass."

"So do you plan to go home and cry to your father when you realize how much mo-" Serana started, before she was gruffly cut off by a hand slapping the back of her head. She turned around angrily, whipping her head around. "OI! Who do you think yo-"

"Honestly, I finally come for a visit, and I find you here acting like this." The girl behind her said. I looked at her and gasped. "You too, Frank. For the love of all that is good in this world, will you two behave like adults, please?"

The girl looked almost identical to Serana, save for her chocolate brown eyes and paler skin. She looked a bit taller than Serana, but besides that, it was like they were the same person. She had the same ridiculously long wavy black hair, along hers went a little further and was current done up in a high ponytail.

She was wearing a red and black checkered button up, done up to the fourth button revealing her formfitting white tank top. Her sleeves were rolled up, revealing her plethora of string bracelets. She had on a pair of regular boyfriend jeans, folded up just above her ankles, and a pair of black converse sneakers.

"I ought to strip away your powers for a week, see how you fare without them." The girl snapped, sternly. The way she spoke and held herself made it seem like she had a ton of self-confidence and could wield authority like a formfitting sword. Derrick and Franklin looked amused with the girl's presence, while Serana looked somewhere in between terrified and annoyed. "You're lucky Bonnibel came with me, or I would give you a nice public beating right here and now."

"What're you doing here?" Serana asked in a low voice.

"I'm visiting my family," The girl said, frowning.

" _Why_?" Serana hissed, looking unamused.

"Because I can," The girl said, raising an eyebrow. "I _do_ pay for you to attend college, you know."

"So that I can get _away_ from you," Serana said through gritted teeth.

"Is that any way to speak to your mother?" The girl said, crossing her arms with a heavy frown. "I brought you into this world, Serana. Don't forget that I could easily take you out."

"Ooooh," Derrick mumbled under his breath, with a laugh. "She played that card."

"Derrick, Franklin," The girl said, looking around Serana with a smile. "It's always nice to see you two. I hope you guys have been behaving yourselves."

"Hi, Aunt Marceline," Derrick said, pleasantly. "Dad says that we should all get together sometime soon."

"We definitely will," She said, her eyes roving around. I saw her nostrils flare and she suddenly locked eyes with me. She stared at me and I looked back, nervous. No one said anything for a solid minute, the girl evaluating me in silence. Suddenly, she smiled like she had just been let in on some inside joke. "And you are?"

"Uhm. Hi?" I said, uneasily. "My name's Kelsey."

"Have we… met before?" The girl said, her eyes fixed on me.

"I don't think so," I said, frowning. "I feel like I'd remember meeting someone like you?"

"'Someone like me'?" The girl asked, with an amused grin. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uh… I mean, you know, just… you stand out," I said, awkwardly with an apprehensive laugh. I followed up by blurting out; "It's the grin. It's kind of, uh, notable."

"My apologies, then," She said, laughing earnestly. She pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the table where Serana and I were sitting. She earned a low grunt from Serana, who otherwise remained silent, pouting like a small child. "You just sort of… remind me of someone, although I can't quite place my finger on it yet. I guess I'd remember meeting someone like you, though. You've got… a memorable smell. Don't think I'd forget it."

"Stop, Mum," Serana groaned. "You're _married_."

"I'm not hitting on her," She said, aghast.

"You might as well be," Serana grunted, leaning back in her chair.

"You're… you're Marceline? The vampire queen?" I said, in shock. Realization hit me like a freight train and I paled. "Oh my god."

"That I am," She said, with an easy grin spreading across her face. "What gave it away? The grin?"

"But… but… but you look like _twins_ ," I said, astounded. "I mean, like _actual_ twins. Like, as in the same age, kind of twins."

"We stopped aging at around the same time," Marceline said, with a casual shrug. "Although it has always struck me as odd how alike the two of us look. Honestly, I had hoped both of my children would look like my wife, she's much more fun to look at."

"Well, fancy that," Serana said, sarcastically rolling her eyes. "I disappointed you. Again."

"She got my attitude, too," Marceline said, frowning back at her daughter. "Nasty little girl, isn't she?"

"Shut _up_ ," Serana groaned.

"Watch your mouth, young lady," Marceline barked, causing the whole room to go silent. Marceline leaned forward to whisper to her daughter. "I will break your neck so fast you wont even know what happened."

"In front of all these people?" Serana challenged with a light hiss. "I _dare_ you, Mum."

"Don't test me," Marceline murmured, pressing her fingers against the bridge of her nose. "Honestly, you're so needlessly rebellious."

"Maybe if you would just leave me alone, I wouldn't need to be." Serana retorted. I blinked, my vision starting to get blurry.

"I am your _mother_ , I can't just leave you alone." Marceline said, exasperated. My head was beginning to pound, violently. My vision went in and out of focus and I suddenly felt incredibly nauseous.

"Yeah, you actually could," Serana snapped back. My mouth started to go dry and my brain felt like it was processing a thousand things at once.

"Oh for the love o-" Marceline started, before giving me an odd look. "Are you okay, kid?"

"I… duan fo…" I managed to murmur out, my tongue refusing to work right. I could hear whispers in the back of my head, through the incredible pain.

"What…?" Marceline said, confused. Her eyes widened and she cursed under her breath. I looked at her, confused, before my eyes closed and my head hit the table.

I heard a couple rushed whispers and felt my body being picked up before I blacked out.

Xx

Xx

 _Chelsea Pillion_

I was sitting at my favorite spot, my feet dangling loosely off the small edge just above the skyline. It was midday, the sun high in the sky, shining down beams of bright light and warming up the atmosphere around me.

The sky was a calming blue, with a few casual fluffy white clouds slowly flying by. I was several feet above the air, sitting on top of an old abandoned water tower. I felt like I could see the whole _world_ from on top of this hill. The water tower was in the middle of a small forest, in one of the calmest places in town.

The wind passed by me almost silently, the warm breeze soothing my mind. There were a few reasons this was my favorite spot.

It was super isolated. No one else knew about this place, hell I discovered drunkenly trying to get myself home after a wild party thrown a little outside of town. It was a nice, little relaxing place all for myself.

The view here was magnificent, any time of the day. Sunset, midday, sundown… It was simply magical. The way the colors of the sky blended together, almost like physical watercolor.

The sun was almost always warm at this spot, even in the winter. An optimal spot to curl up and take a nice nap.

It was good for an artist's soul to have spots like this. Yeah, yeah, 'Oh Chelsea, I didn't know you were an artist!'. Well, most people didn't. Really only Kelsey and Quinton did. It wasn't like a fine love or intensive hobby. It was something I did to pass the time. Just sketch out a horizon, throw some blended colored pencil on there.

I was sitting on top of the water tower, with a thin blanket underneath me. My knees were tucked up close to my chest, my sketchpad pressed against my thighs. Colored pencils were spread around me, along with a pencil sharpener.

I looked down, taking a moment to admire my handiwork. It had taken me a full three hours, I had skipped my Spanish 102 class to sit here. It was vibrant like a looking piece of clear hard candy towards the sky.

Suddenly, I heard clanging coming from the metal ladder at the other end of the water tower. In a moment of panic, I became flustered thinking that it was probably a police officer coming up to arrest me. I quickly picked up all my things, frantically looking for an escape route.

The clanging got closer, and my only real option was to jump thirty feet down… which was definitely _not_ going to happen. My sketchpad, pencil box and blanket bundled up in my arms, my hair an absolute mess, my sweatshirt falling off my shoulders and my breathing irregular, I watched in fear as a head began to pop up over the edge of the water tower.

"Chelsea?" A familiar voice said as Dean's head popped up, with a bright smile. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Dean!" I shouted back, letting out a long sigh of relief. "God! I thought you were a cop or something?"

"A cop?" He said, with a snicker. He pulled himself up with a small huff. "Rest easy, Pillion #2. I am the exact _opposite_ of law enforcement."

He planted his feet on the metal roof of the tower, and stretched his arms. He was dressed in a regular white t-shirt, almost blending in with his pale skin. His strawberry blonde hair was held back by a black and light blue-stripped bandana. He had on a pair of light beige chinos and brown loafers.

He was wearing a rather large industrial looking black backpack. His pants were held up by a leather belt, which had a few odd looking cartoon skulls on them.

"Nice belt," I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Ah, it's from my middle school emo phase," He said with a laugh. "I'm sure you had one too, you look the type."

"Oh, that was awful judgmental," I said, throwing him a disapproving frown. "If you must know, no. I did _not_ have a middle school 'emo' phase. I had a small little punk phase, but that was it."

"Punk, eh?" Dean said, walking towards me. "My kinda gal. Wanna take a seat with me? Enjoy the view?"

"How did you even know about this place?" I asked, curiously as I laid my blanket back out.

"I can see it from my dorm," He said, with a shrug. He narrowed his eyes and looked around the skyline. His eyes stopped promptly and he lifted one of his long fingers to point. "Right there. I room with my brother in this tiny little crappy room, and we haven't bought an air conditioner yet."

"Seriously?" I said, laughing. "You guys must be sweating your asses off every night, it hasn't been even below 80 for weeks."

"Eh, we can usually convince Nathan and Serana to let us crash at their place," Dean said, with a shrug. My sketchpad and colored pencils clumsily fell from my hands as I tried to put them back in the bag I had set off to the side. Dean quickly leapt into action and knelt by me, grabbing a handful of colored pencils. "Colored pencils? You an artist?"

"Ah, not really," I said, with a small shrug, clutching my sketchpad to my chest. He grinned one of those trademark family grins at me, eyeing my sketchpad. "More like a bored drawer."

"Art is art, all the same." He said, raising an eyebrow. "Show me?"

"As soon as you shave off that horrible moustache," I said, laughing.

"Oh, come on, not you, too," Dean said, pouting heavily. "I _like_ my moustache."

"Maybe grow a beard first," I said, examining his face. "You'd probably look good with one, actually."

"Really?" Dean said, his British accent making him seem like an adorable little orphan boy for a moment. "I've never thought about growing a whole beard. Don't know if puberty hit me hard enough to _let_ me grow a beard."

"You know, you and your whole family has a kind of weird way of talking," I said, shaking my head with a smile. "Like… kind of like what I imagine old-time British royalty to sound like."

"British royalty?" He said with a cheeky smile. "Far from it, I'm afraid. Just a normal, run of the mill British accented boy. Sorry to disappoint."

"Trust me, anyone with a British accent doesn't disappoint." I replied, looking at the horizon. We sat for a moment, in silence, looking at the sun hanging above the sky.

"Well, if you don't want to show me your art, in whatever form it may be," Dean suddenly said, reaching into his bag. "I shall make you into a piece of my own."

"Huh?" I said, quizzically.

"Say cheese," He said, whipping out a fancy looking camera from his back pack. Before I could respond, I heard the distinct 'click' go off and saw the shutters move. He looked into the viewfinder of his camera, laughing. "Man. For a pretty girl, you can sure make an ugly face."

"Wow," I said, blinking in surprise before I let out a laugh. "For a Brit, you sure don't know how to be a gentleman, do you?"

"Common stereotype," Dean said, shrugging. "Most of us are quite _un_ -gentlemanlike. I understand the confusion though; the most popular of us seem to be the gentleman. Can't help by wonder why."

"Well, a girl can't help but melt at a cute accent and a good face," I responded, brushing hair from my face. "Proper manners tends to be what puts us completely over the edge. We like to be treated well."

"Duly noted," Dean said, with a casual smile. "I'll have to remember that next time a take a girl on a date. Maybe I'll even hold a door or two open for her."

Xx

Xx

 _Nathan Abadeer_

" _Why_ didn't you tell me they were coming?" Serana hissed at me for what seemed like the millionth time.

"I didn't think it was important," I simply replied, shrugging haphazardly. "It's just our parents."

" _Just_ our parents?" She near shrieked at me. " _Just_ our parents? _Just_? Seriously? _Just_ them?"

"I don't understand what the big deal is, Serana," I said, with a sigh.

"You know that it's never _just_ our parents," She groaned. "It means the whole _shebang_ is going to make its way into town."

"That's no completely certain," I said, despite knowing how true that statement was. There was very rarely a time when our mothers would just come for a visit without her whole group of friends showing up. It was like they were a hive mind or something. "Besides, what does it matter if they show up? They'll be here for a week, max, and then leave. And that means mum'll handle any odd vampire situations in the area for a week, so I think it's a win situation."

" _No_ ," She said, drawling the word out with over exaggerated emphasis. "Mom, will be fine, like she always is. _Mum_ and Uncle Marshall are going to do some incredibly fucked up shit, like they always do, and the Pillions are going to see it, and going running for the hills."

"You mean Kelsey, right?" I said knowingly, massaging the bridge of my nose. "Look, if she didn't go running for the hills when you _killed_ peop-"

"No, I mean the three kids we just became friendly with!" She shouted at me, shaking her hands in the air. "Not everything is about her, okay?"

"Look, if you're really worried about it, just keep them away this week," I said, diplomatically, squeezing my eyes shut in frustration. "Kelsey will understand, she knows the situation. Just tell her and her siblings to… take a week off from us. A cleanse, if you will."

"We're not some sort of bad chakra," Serana grunted, plopping herself into the chair across from the couch I was sitting in. "But, you've got a good point."

"I've always got a good point," I said with a sigh. "I'm the genius big brother, right? The one who's always got a solution."

"And an attitude," Serana said with a small tsk.

"And," I said, taking a deep breath and standing up from my seat. "The baby sister will eventually, for a lack of better words, _do some incredibly fucked up shit_ , and big brother will have to fix it."

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated," She growled at me, her eyes following me as I approached my front door.

"Shut up, baby sister," I said, throwing her a stern look. I opened my front door before anyone was able to knock. "We have guests."

"Nate, my baby nephew!" Was what I heard before receiving a fist of brute force straight into my ribs.

"Gah!" I grunted as I heard a few cracks and a snap.

"Marshall! Don't hurt my son!" A bubbly voice shouted.

"Aye, aye, I didn't hurt him," Marshall said, patting me, rather roughly, on the shoulder. He smiled at me as he passed through the front door, charming as ever. "He'll heal up in a minute or two. Vampires rule, Bonnibel."

"Honestly," My mother huffed, giving me a worried look. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

"I'll be fine, mom," I said, giving my short mother a smile. She smiled back up at me, satisfied. "Just a few broken ribs, a bit of a punctured lung. It'll heal up in a minute, I just have to go reset them in a second."

"A punctured lung," She gasped, before throwing my uncle a dirty look.

"So what?" My uncle rolled his eyes before throwing himself onto the couch next to Serana. She grunted lowly, with a small smile. "He's a big boy. He should learn to take a little pain, never know when an apocalypse could strike."

"I shouldn't have invited him over," Marceline walked in, with an annoyed look. "He's been bugging me the whole drive since I picked him and Gumball up."

"If you hadn't invited me, how wouldn't I have gotten to see my darling niece?" Marshall said, with a grin towards my sister. "How're you doing, doll face? Anything particularly _tasty_ in this area?"

"A few college girls, some munchy school professors." She said, with a small shrug.

"Sounds like a feast," Marshall said, with an amused drawl in his voice.

"You're not _feeding_ on the locals," Marceline said, with a heavy sigh. "Honestly, Marshall Lee, stop acting like it's the 1600s. The world is _not_ your oyster. I wish you'd stop encouraging him, _dearest_ daughter. It makes it very hard to control my baby brother when my baby daughter continuously emboldens him."

"Maybe little siblings aren't meant to be controlled," Serana simply replied, with a mock coy look and a motioned eyebrow. "Perhaps we're… untameable."

"Look, I'm going to go to Serana's room and check on the girl," Bonnibel said, rolling her eyes. "Marceline, you paused the hemorrhaging, correct?"

"Yep," Marceline said, popping her 'p'. "Couldn't do much more than that, though. You'd think being alive for thousands of years, I'd have some clue on how anatomy works. Nope. None at all."

"I'll handle it," Bubblegum, disappearing in another direction.

"Yeah, I'm going to join Bubblegum," Gumball said, with an annoyed frown. "Marceline, sort out your brother, please?"

"Ouch," Marshall said, wincing in jest, holding a hand over his chest. "Even my man is against me, and I can't even seem to locate my dearest sons. My heart is ever wounded. All I have is my dearest, dearest niece. The only one who shares my _joy_ for bloodlust."

"Stop talking like that," Marceline snapped, annoyed. "You sound like a villain."

"Aren't I?" Marshall said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm about as close as it gets, I believe."

"We've _met_ villains, Marshall Lee," Marceline said. "We have things to discuss, alright? We can leave your existential crisis for later."

"Ooooh, _things_!" Marshall giggled with delight. "I do love _things_. Do tell."

"It's never just a normal family visit, is it?" Serana said, with a sigh. "You dirty, dirty liar."

"I'd say this is pretty normal for us, niece," Marshall said, with an easy grin. "If we just showed up, stayed for a spell just to check in on our beautiful children, don't you think that would be even odder?"

"All business, no play," Serana said, with a nod in our uncle's direction. "Makes life a bit dull, doesn't it?"

"I never said there couldn't be play," Marshall said with a dark chuckle. "We'll have plenty of time for that later. For now, whatever could be the pressing issue we must attend to today, sis?"

"Where's Eugene and Dean?" Marceline asked, curiously. "We called a family meeting, didn't we?"

"I have no idea," Marshall said, with a relaxed shrug. "Eugene's probably off somewhere banging a chick, and James is probably… well, being James. Taking picture or something, whatever it is he's decided to make into a hobby."

"Photography?" I said, with a disapproving scowl. "He's actually quite talented. You should take a look at his photos someday."

"Do you think I could convince him to take pictures of me in battle?" Marshall said, with earnest glee. He made a point of doing some odd pose, flexing his biceps with a cheeky grin. "To capture me in my truest of moments, in the very splendor of my infinite glory."

"Sometimes, you make me wish we were mortal," Marceline said, with a groan. "I told you, we have to have a _talk_."

"Is it the birds and the bees?" Serana asked, batting her lashes at our mother. "I believe I've already had this talk, with Mom."

"It's about _your_ new girlfriend," Marceline suddenly snapped, sending my sister a hard look.

"She's not my girlfriend," Serana growled, her eyes narrowing. "And I don't think we need to have a talk about her."

"Oh, really?" Marceline said, leaning back in her chair. "So, tell me, _girl_ have you insured that she wont go running for the hills? Telling the first person she can about _us_."

"Why would she do that?" Serana scoffed. "I trust her."

"Because you're falling in love with her." Marceline said, plainly.

"I am _not_ falling in love with her." Serana responded in a hard voice.

"Really?" Marceline said, raising an eyebrow. "So if I went back there right now and told your mother to stop treating the girl, you'd be fine. Because, honestly, that would make my life easier."

"No, I wouldn't," Serana said, gritting her teeth in frustration. "She's my _friend_. And I like my friends alive."

"How incredibly sentimental," Uncle Marshall said with a small coo in his voice. "But I do agree, I don't like the idea of a human knowing about us. I say we find a witch, erase her memory a bit."

"I'm not _erasing_ her memory right after she had internal bleeding in her _brain_ ," Serana snapped. "That's about the same as killing her.

"Would you rather I traumatize her to the point where she forgets?" Marshall asked, with a grin. "I'm _very_ good at that. Years of practice."

"Look, she's not going to do whatever it is you think she's going to do," Serana retorted, tapping her knee with her finger anxiously. "I know her, alright. I can trust her."

"How, Serana?" Marceline said, very suddenly standing before my sister, her arms crossed in annoyance. "You've known her for all of two or three weeks. How did she respond, exactly, when she learned you were a vampire?"

"She didn't run for the hills, if that's what you're asking." Serana responded. "She's not going to tell anyone, okay?"

"Do you have her word?" Marceline asked, icily. "Because, quite honestly, even if you did, I wouldn't accept it."

"I _trust_ her," Serana repeated.

"And that's quite the personal achievement for you, I will admit," Marceline responded, stalking back and forth in front of her daughter. "But, unfortunately, I _don't_."

"Not everything is about you, Mum," Serana snapped back.

"No, I understand that, believe me," She said, turning to her daughter with wide eyes. "I don't think you understand that nothing everything is about _you_. Just like your uncle."

"Oi!" Marshall said with a small pout. "Why'd you have to throw me in there?"

"Shut up, Marshall Lee," Marceline snarled. "Something must be done about this situation."

"Oh yeah?" Serana said. "What about when you told Mom? You didn't feel the need to 'rectify' the situation or whatever then."

"I was in love with her," Marceline said, shaking her head. "Do you honestly think I was thinking rationally? Besides, she wasn't going to tell anyone. If anything, she wanted to keep it her own little secret so she could be one of the few people to know about it."

"So you just trusted her?"

"Yes."

"Just like that."

"Yes, Serana."

"But I'm not allowed to do the same?"

"I was in _love_ with her, for fuck's sake. Are you in love with this girl?"

"No!"

"Then no, you _aren't_ allowed to trust her 'just like that'. Besides, your mother and this girl are not the same people, at all."

"Do you even know her? Like anything about her?" Serana asked, raising an eyebrow, her frown heavy on her face. "If she was going to tell someone, don't you think she would've already?"

"Maybe she's just not that afraid," Marceline said, sneering. "It happens; people get courageous or are just stupid. So she didn't tell out of fear. But hatred, daughter, takes time to grow and foster."

"She doesn't hate us," Serana responded.

"Did she suddenly become a bit icy when she learned what we are?" Marceline growled, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes. "Did she take in the news with open arms? Even if she didn't run for hills, like you say, it doesn't mean she isn't completely _repulsed_ by us."

"She _wont_ tell anyone." Serana said, with alarming constitution. I think my mother sensed it, and backed off.

"Even if she isn't telling anybody, there's something else about her," Marceline quickly returned, her fingers on her jaw. "I don't think she's human."

"What?" Serana said, confused. "How could she not be human?"

"I _know_ you can smell her, Serana," Marceline simply followed, with a thoughtful scowl. "I can't tell _what_ she is, but she's something."

" _Maybe_ she's just a particularly good smelling human being." Serana offered. "I mean, she just smells like blood. It's really, _really_ good smelling blood, I'll give you that, but it's just blood all the same."

"Normal humans don't smell that good to _every_ vampire," Marceline said, pursing her lips. "Humans only normally smell that good when heightened by mutual hormones."

"Okay, so maybe she's just got a lot of hormones, I don't _know_ , mother," Serana snapped, annoyed.

"For the love of…" Marceline merely grunted. I sighed, knowing this was going to be another long mother-daughter argument.

Xx

Xx

 _Quinton Pillion_

I would never lie and call myself anything refined or gentlemanly or particularly noble. I was a boy, alright? A young man, in his eighteenth year of living, with very few, specific interests.

I liked girls, I liked getting drunk, I liked getting drunk with girls, and classic literature. Yeah, I know, _which one of these are not like the others_. I mean, usually, they weren't all together. Sometimes I liked girls separate, sometimes I just wanted to get drunk and sometimes I just wanted to read a good book. But, the used the word _usually_ for a reason.

At the current moment, I was sitting in Kathleen Merten's bedroom, drinking a bottle of wine and reading a copy of _The Great Gatsby_. I'm not sure where Kathleen was at the moment, but I had a feeling I was about to be mixing all of my interests in this one little tiny bedroom.

Her room was kind of plain. She had a bed, a desk, a bedside table and a _single_ 'Carmilla' poster. I wasn't really sure what it was. She said she printed it out after seeing some particular Tumblr post, a dark picture with a single girl with black hair standing in the middle with big white letters spelling ' _Carmilla_ '.

She tried to get me to watch it with her a couple times, but I wasn't super into it. Seemed like some sort of strange chick series, something about vampires in it, I don't really know. Vampires weren't really my thing, to be honest. Seemed a little needlessly _fantastical_. I liked to live in the real world.

Like _The Great Gatsby_ , for example. It was a fictional story, yeah, but it was realer than a lot of these new age vampire/werewolf books, with demons and shit. The 1920s seem like a great time to be alive. Gangsters, booze, flappers, cunning businessmen, dirty politicians… that was real life right there.

I took another sip from my bottle of wine, my glasses hanging on the edge of my nose as I looked down at my book. I was sitting on Kathleen's bed, my leg's crossed and comfy in my plaid pajama pants. My shirt had been discarded, laying on the floor a few feet away from me. Only the bedside lamp was on, giving me just enough light to see the little black words on my discolored beige pages.

As the letters began to jump and twist, I realized I was getting a little more drunk than I had realized. Blinking twice, I lifted the wine bottle up to examine it. The rose red liquid was over three quarters gone, and I had only started drinking it an hour ago. I licked my lips slowly, blinking again, slowly.

"Quinton?" A deep, feminine voice called out as I heard the door creak open. "How long have you been here?"

"Since you left," I said, offering her only a small shrug.

"I've been gone for eight hours," She said with a small laugh. "What've you been doing?"

"I took a little nap, and then I cracked open one of my favorite books," I replied, looking up to give her a smile. She was walking into her room, throwing her backpack onto the ground, and making her way over to her bed. Her long, black hair was out, flowing past her a bit as she walked. She was wearing a pair of _short_ jean shorts, a tie-dye tank top and a blue and white plaid shirt wrapped around her waist.

" _The Great Gatsby_?" She said, looking at my book as she slipped into the bed with a grin. She propped her head up with her hand, her elbow pressed against her mattress. "I can see you being a 1920s kind of guy."

"Seemed like a great time to be alive," I said, giving her a smile of my own. "Not that now doesn't have merits of it's own. "

"Oh yeah?" Kathleen said, her voice smooth as silk as I looked down at her. "What kind of merits?"

"Well, for one," I said, slowly closing my book, the edges of my lips turned slightly with amusement. "Internet. Definitely. And iPhones. And, of course, the fact that girls wouldn't have been nearly as enticing as a certain someone I've got in front of me."

"Enticing, eh?" She said, with an impious grin. She looked up at me through half-lidded eyes, licking her lips with anticipation.

"Incredibly so," I said, slowly wiggling my bushy eyebrows at the older girl.

"Well, it just so happens that I've got an incredibly enticing guy in front of me as well," She responded as I put my book down, bookmark in place, and pushed my glasses up. "A smart looking, glasses wearing, incredibly hot, no-shirt-wearing, enticing guy."

"He sounds like a cool dude," I replied. "I should get around to meeting him someday."

She laughed and shook her head as she lifted herself up, extending an arm to push on my shoulder. With a decent amount of force, she managed to (lightly) shove me so my back was against her mattress, my head lying on her soft pillows.

"God," She hissed, moving her legs to straddle my waist. She moved her fingers along the lines of my abdomen, admiring the small creases formed along my athletic torso. "You are _so_ hot."

"Ditto," I simply replied, placing my hands against her legs, rubbing my hands against the creamy skin of her thigh. She just smiled at me, looking like a black haired goddess sitting overtop me.

"You know…" She hummed, examining me with roving eyes. "None of the boys are here. They all went to Chili's tonight, I think."

"Hmm… really?" I murmured, admiring the view I had. "Whatever shall we do with such a lonely house?"

"Oh, shut up," She rolled her eyes with amusement and a laugh. "You think you're _so_ funny, don't you?"

"I'm a goddamn comedian, sweet thing," I gave her a cheeky grin and she just gave my chest a small little smack.

"Ugh," She grunted, shaking her head. "You're lucky you've got a nice face."

I just laughed as she leaned down to place a slow kiss on my lips. My body flared up and she grinned against my mouth when I reached up to slip my hands through her fingers. I leaned up to get closer to her, my body ready and wanting.

She detached herself for a moment to throw her shirt off. She made a show of smiling down at me, hanging her blue sleeveless shirt on her finger. I swallowed, my eyes trailing against her skin, the curves of her waist past the dips in her stomach. Her hand was back against my stomach and my eyes immediately lifted to lock with hers.

I felt like I saw the way my life could be when I looked at her. I mean, honestly, she was literally about to have sex with me and for a moment, I swear to god, I had this little flash. I saw us standing at an altar, her dressed in white and me in the best tux money could buy. I saw me carrying her into a house, pulling up the 'for sale' sign. I saw me cooking for breakfast for her, and us tumbling around in a white bed with soft blankets and sheets.

I saw the way her eyes would light up when we learned we were having a kid and the way she would smile when we learned it was a girl. I saw myself _holding_ that child and my heart filling with some unspeakable emotion.

"Quin?" She called. I blinked and saw her giving me a confused look. "You with me?"

"More than you know," I said, leaning myself up on my elbows. She gave me a quizzical look, but still leaned down to kiss me again.

Xx

Xx

 _Kelsey Pillion_

"Nnnnggg…." I groaned almost inaudibly, squeezing her eyes shut. My brain felt like it was literally on fire. There was pressure like no other in my head, like I was sinking millions of feet down under water into the very bottom of the ocean. Yeah, it sounds super dramatic but it _hurt_.

I honestly thought I was going to die. I was regretting not writing a will or telling my parents I loved them one last time. The pain was so bad I couldn't even move any parts of my body.

Through the fog of my pain, however, I could hear talking. Louder talking, not like the weird non-sensible whispers that had been _haunting_ me for over a week. For a while I couldn't tell what they were saying, the excoriating pain making my mind too hazy. I don't know how long I was sitting… standing… laying… I don't know. Probably lying, there. Hours, days, minutes, seconds. I really don't have any idea. All I knew was how much it hurt.

I knew I needed to focus on something other than the pain in my head. I tried with every once of my strength to focus on the words that were coming from whoever was standing near me.

Time passed… and passed… and passed… and then, finally, in an odd moment of clarity, I began to understand.

"Do you understand how _dumb_ that sounds?" Nathan's voice snapped through my fog. "You're literally planning on kidnapping her and hiding her from, in my very humble opinion, a very resourceful, old, smart Queen of Vampires."

"Who just happens to be our mother," Serana interjected, quickly. "And if anyone here knows how our mother thinks, it's me, right? I mean, she says how much I'm like her all the time."

"Yes, only younger and, therefore, _dumber_ ," Nathan said, harshly. "You've barely been alive for one millionth of her life. What makes you think you can outsmart her? And for that matter, what makes you think our sleeping little angel here is going to want to go along with your plan?"

"Well, I'm sure love over here doesn't _really_ want to be killed or have her brain fried by a witch." Serana replied, her voice filled with familiar thoughtfulness.

"You're going through an awful lot of work to save some random human, Serana," Nathan sounded exhausted. He was probably pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose, with his eyes squeezed shut and a weighed frown on is lips. "Tell me, why exactly, should I even help you?"

"Because we both know that I don't know how to fix her." Serana responded. "You're _smarter_ than I am. I don't know anatomy or shit like that. _Please_. Even if you aren't doing it for me, do it for her."

"For the love of-" He started.

"Look, I know you're fond of her." She said, quickly. "I don't care if it's just friendship or she's interesting or romantic or what, okay. I won't ask. But I _know_ you don't want her harmed in any shape or way. Okay? So just… _help her_."

"I… but… Alright, fine!" Nathan snapped, the floor quaking slightly. It was in that moment that I realized I was beginning to get feeling back in my body. I felt my fingers curl and uncurl with my thoughts. "God, I can't believe I'm going along with this idiotic plan of yours. You should be fine here for now, alright, call me when she wakes up. We can move her to my apartment into the city if we need to."

 _Here? Where was I right now?_

"I'm going back home, okay? I've got research I need to get too, the cells will multiply too rapidly and bacteria will get everywhere and…" Nathan trailed off as I heard him beginning to walk away. "Never mind. Feed her when she wakes up. I'll look over some of the brain x-rays of got of hers and see what I can do to help her. Her mind is unstable right now, be patient with her when she wakes up."

I heard Serana give a low grunt in acknowledgement and a door creak open.

"Nathan?" Serana said, the footsteps stopping shortly.

"Hmm?" He responded.

"Thank you." She said, lightly. "I mean it."

"It's not about you," Nathan said, slowly.

"I know." Serana replied, with a heavy breath. "But… thank you anyways."

"…You're welcome," Nathan said, after a long pause. Two heavy footsteps later the door closed and I heard Serana sigh.

I groaned again, this time with more volume. I regained control of my eyes, finally, and slowly blinked them open. It hurt so bad to even try to pry them open, they felt like they had been cemented shut.

"God," I managed to moan out, a small amount of light hitting my pupils. I couldn't process what was going on yet. I could see, but at the same time I couldn't. I know I was somewhere… not at home, not anywhere I recognized. "What… where am I?"

"Kelsey?" Serana's worried voice called through my haze. I felt my back shift with some unknown weight and I saw a white-ish blurb in my vision. "Are you up Kelsey?"

"Serana?" I groaned, trying to get my eyes to focus.

"Yeah, it's me," I felt a reassuring hand against my shoulder. "How are you? How are you feeling?"

"Serana, where are we?" I asked, groggily. My vision was slowly becoming clearer and I noticed that there was a distinctly large amount of _beige_. "How did we get here?"

"We're in a… well, we're in a cheap motel right now," Serana said, sitting down next to me. "And I carried you out of my house, into my jeep, and then carried you into this room."

"Why… why are we here?" I asked, confused. Her face finally became focused in my view, her worried eyes staring down at me.

"Well… at first, you, uh, your brain was hemorrhaging and you were probably going to die." She spat out, quickly.

"To die?" I grunted, disoriented. "I was going to die?"

"Yeah, but we fixed you," Serana followed up, hastily. "Or, more specifically, my mom and my uncle fixed you. And Nathan helped a little bit. They're the really good ones with that kind of stuff."

"So… I'm not going to die?" I asked.

"No," Serana said with a small tentative smile. "You're going to be just fine."

"…Then why am I not at home?" I questioned, uneasily.

"Oh, well, I mean it's just a very small, very minor detail." She laughed nervously and I knew this wasn't going to very small or very minor at all. "My mum, she wants to take you to a witch and have your memory wiped."

"My memory wiped?" I responded, frowning. "Uhm… why?"

"They think you're gonna end up, you know, telling other people and rioting and things like that," Serana looked at me with uneasy eyes, the blue around her eyes swirling with concern. "I disagreed."

"Bold move," I said, with a small smirk. "For all you know, I could be plotting your downfall right now."

"For some reason, I just have a hard time believing that to be true," She said, throwing me one of her charming, boyish, 'Abadeer' grins. My heart skipped a beat and she chuckled deeply. My body tingled at the sound and I couldn't help but sigh contently. "Besides… it'd take more than an angry little human and some side kicks to be my downfall. Although, I'd suggest you don't make jokes like that around my parents. Like, ever."

"Duly noted," I said, smiling despite the fact that we were hiding out in a cheap motel, which likely had cockroaches, so that her crazy wack-ass vampire family _didn't_ kill me. "So you're not afraid I'll go off and tell the highest official I can find and get you killed or something?"

"It takes _a lot_ to get me killed, sweat heart," She snickered.

"But you just trust me?" I continued.

"I… I guess I do," She said, with a small shrug. "You seem pretty trustworthy."

"Why?" I said, with a small frown. "We've barely known each other. It's not that off base to think that I might get scared or something and tattle, don't you think?"

"Are you trying to tell me I shouldn't trust you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. She leaned forward ever so slightly, giving me an inscrutable look.

"I'm just saying that maybe it was a little dumb," I said, with a shrug. I leaned myself up, roughly, grunting as I pushed my back against the wall.

"Be careful, please, for the love of God," She said, with a frustrated sigh. "Don't hurt yourself."

"Even if you trust me, I don't understand why you'd go up against your family just to make sure I didn't get my memory wiped," I said, breathing slowly as my head spun. "Ah. This is some rebellious act, isn't it? A good ol' 'FUCK YOU' to your mom?"

"This is more than just a whimsical rebellious act, trust me. I've had more than a few." She said, shaking her head. "Getting your mind wiped could potentially be dangerous, you know, to your brain. Especially since you just had brain damage and internal bleeding. I'm not letting some witch poke around in your mind and potentially killing you."

"That's incredibly chivalrous of you," I noted.

"Don't call me a white knight any time soon, love," She said, reaching a hand forward to brush a stray hair on my face away. "I can't promise that my intentions were… entirely pure. If at all, quite frankly."

"So what, you whisked me far, far away to have your wily way with me?" I said, throwing her a slightly dissipated look, a small shock running through my body as her cool skin made contact with me. "You could've probably had any other girl in the world, you know."

"I know. But for some reason…" She said, her voice low, her eyelids lidding faintly. She let out a low, warm breath and I felt it pass my skin, goose bumps spreading across my entire body. "I don't want any other girl in the world."

"Really?" I breathed out as she leaned closer to me. Every centimeter she closed between us I couldn't help but feel like the distance was even larger than before. "Guess I should count myself lucky, then."

"We probably shouldn't, uh, you know," She said, without backing away. Her eyes exchanged between my lips and my eyes. Her tongue licked across her lips and I could see her pointed canines. "You've been through a bit of a traumatic experience, you know. Don't want to… overexert you."

"Then maybe… we shouldn't," I whispered, looking up at her through my eyelashes.

"I… don't think I'm at all capable of doing that, right now," She simply breathed back out across my neck. "You have… _no_ idea how good you smell."

"Do you want to bite me?" I asked, curiously.

"That's a rather complicated question, love," She said, her eyes roving all over my face, that same desperate look on her face from _that night_. "But I wont."

"Do it," I murmured under my breath. Her eyes widened and she backed up, alarmed.

"Excuse me?" She spluttered out, caught off guard.

"Bite me," I encouraged. "Bite my neck, Serana. It's the least I can offer."

"I didn't save you so you could offer yourself up as some virgin sacrifice," She said, frowning at me.

"Firstly, I'm not a virgin, Serana," I said, giving her a quizzical look. I shook my head and followed with; "And I know you didn't do it so I would let you drink from me. But I'm telling you, you can, anyways,"

"No," she said, shaking her head furiously.

"You trust me, right?" I said, my voice low and wanting. "I trust you, too."

"I'm a vampire," She said, furrowing her eyebrows and puffing her cheeks.

"Trust is a two-way street, isn't it?" I said with a casual shrug. With a small smile, I lifted my hand and grabbed the front of the shirt and brought her ear near my lips. "Plus… I've always liked a little bit of biting."

"Jesus, Kelsey," She hissed, leaning back with a deep breath that rocked her chest. "You're going to give me a heart attack. And my heart doesn't even beat."

"So?" I said, raising an eyebrow. " _Bite me_."

"You never struck me as the kinky type, you know," She murmured, running her nose along the length of my neck. Her warm breath tickled me a bit. My chest was heaving in anticipation. "I don't think I would be able to stop if I started."

"I think you would," I hummed back, appreciating the way her lips pressed against the hollow part of my neck occasionally. "I trust you."

"I…" She said, suddenly leaning back to look in my eyes. "I have to tell you something. I think. I'm not sure. But I've got this feeling in the back of my throat that tells me if I don't, I'll miss my opportunity."

"Okay?" I said with a confused frown.

"I really, really like you," She spat out, clumsily, blinking her eyes, flustered. "Like, really, really, really, _really_ like you. I could sit here and listen to you talk for days on end and not get tired of hearing your voice or seeing your face, kind of like. I think you're super funny and you're kind of super cute, and you know, you're independent and you've got your life together, even if you don't think it. And you're still nice to me, even though you could've justifiably started ignoring me and avoiding me and I think I might be falling for you."

"Ah," I said, after she paused, looking down. "Is that it?"

"Uh, yeah," She said, swallowing nervously. "That's it."

"Good," I said, pushing myself forward to touch the tip of my nose against hers. "Because I kind of really, really like you, too."

In one swift, bold movement I pushed myself forward just a tiny bit more and pressed my lips against hers. She reacted almost immediately, pressing back towards me. I felt a spark between us and began hearing music.

"Did you do that?" I said, between a kiss. My hands reached around her neck, pressing her closer to me.

"Erm, sorry," She said, sheepishly. "I'm still not very good at controlling my magic."

I laughed and gave her another open mouth kissed, feeling her strong body begin to press up against mine in a needy way. Her hands began to trail along my sides, sending thrills down my body. She pressed one hand against my leg, and in one swift, strong moment, I was completely upright against the wall.

Her knee's were pressed against the rather hard and uncomfortable mattress. Her breathing was ragged as she continued to kiss me over and over and over again, like she was afraid I was going to disappear.

"Seriously?" I said, backing away for a second to raise an eyebrow at her.

"What? What's wrong?" She said, looking like I had kicked her puppy.

"This song?" I said, with a small smirk. In the background, Mike Posner's _Looks Like Sex_ was playing, the bass pumping from some unknown source.

"I just told you I can't control it," She said, with a small sigh, leaning down to kiss my neck. I hummed happily, with a small triumphant smile.

"I wasn't mad," I said with a little chuckle. "I'm quite flattered, actually. Although, it wasn't all that hard to tell what you were thinking before."

"Shut up and stop teasing me," she pouted, her teeth grazing against my skin.

"Do it," I prompted, my head never feeling clearer than it was at the current moment.

I felt her wet tongue lick up a long strip of my neck and I shivered. She hovered for a moment, before I felt two small pangs of light pain against my skin. Embarrassing, it felt a lot better than I thought it would. I had been expecting to be cringing for a little while, but within a split second I was some crazy moaning mess.

My fingers tightened almost painfully around her and a deep moan that I didn't even realize I could emit came from the very depths of my throat. Her hands clutched against me, her fingers digging into my body. Her face pressed against my neck as she tried to get impossibly closer, pushing me slightly.

Before I even felt slightly weak, she came off me with a pop. Her eyes immediately locked with mine, glowing a strange pink/red color. She looked at me for a long moment, with such intensity I thought I might combust before her mouth latched back onto mine. In a vampire quick movement, her shirt was gone, leaving her in only a plain black bra, contrasting against her white skin.

"We're about to pass a point of no return," She said, her fingers trailing up my thigh, tickling against the ends of my shorts.

"That's fine with me," I merely replied. She gave me a smile before pressing her lips against my neck again.

She unbuttoned my shirt with precision and speed that I credited to her supernatural state. She reached the top button and spread her fingertips against my lower abdomen. Her cold hands appreciated my much warmer body, caressing my skin like it was some holy object.

"God I need this," she murmured, and then my shirt was gone.

Xx

Xx

Hello, hello guys.

Like I said, these updates wouldn't be consistent at all, seeing as how this took me like a month. Sorry, but I'm living a crazy life.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 4 and shit's already happening, right? Wont be too long till some bad shit hits the fan prolly.

 _ **Lecoj03:**_ Ah! That 'it'. Well, who knows. Life's unpredictable. Won't say it is, wont say it is. As for the old companions, they were always scheduled for a reappearance. They might not have all been in this chapter, but they'll be back, trust me. And in the case of Serana and Kelsey getting together… well, you read, I think. ;)

And yeah, my mac and cheese does bubble over the stove sometimes, when I sit down to watch Netflix and forget about it. Woops!


	6. The Reappearance of Jazzieloo?

Good evening friends!

It's been quite some time, hasn't it? You all must hate me for disappearing.

In complete honesty, I had been intent on finishing this story. I had the _entire_ thing outlined, from the first chapter to the last. And then one day –poof- my computer decided to stop working and the _entire_ thing got deleted. Over _300,000_ words just –poof-ed into thin air.

After that I got super annoyed and I tried to remake my outline, but I failed miserably. I thought about just winging it, like I did for IJYPB, but I had been so attached to that one that I couldn't at first.

Then, lots and lots of things happened to me. A lot of various circumstances led to me having to leave school and do some extensive therapy due to brain damage and stuff like that. You know, just the normal stuff that happens to me.

Anyways, I just wanted to write a little update to say that I am actually planning on bringing this back. It's going to take a while, as I plan to read my _entire_ first story again, and then I have to write the _entire_ outline and stuff, but you have my word this will return to you.

As with my previous story, I believe this one will follow a similar theme of kind of exploring some of the darker elements of my personality, but with that being said I am a bit of a different person that I was before. How so?

Well. I guess you'll just have to find that out eventually.


	7. Chapter 6

Hello friends! I have returned from the dead. Bet you thought my update was a lie. Surprise homies, I'm not done yet. To be fair it _has_ taken me a fairly long time to re-read, and then re-outline. I haven't even finished outlining every chapter yet, just re-ironed out characters and plot lines. Good news is, I've gotten the next several chapters outlined, so I wont run out somehow. It'll likely take me a whole to finish outlining, seeing as how its taken me about 4 days to get 4 done, as I've been somewhat busy.

Anyways, I'm back, stories back. I'll be interested to see if I can still write halfway decent. Who knows, maybe it'll be better. Maybe. Hopefully. Cross your fingers.

Alright, lets get in it.

Haha, just kidding, forgot to add music.

Honestly, I mostly just listened to the new _Imagine Dragons_ album, because honestly I think it's amazing. Expect for a few songs to re-appear, especially during fight scenes, or maybe just even dramatic scenes.

Xx

Xx

 _Franklin Wolfe_

Okay so what? We just kind of tell you about ourselves? That sort of deal?

Ah, my family history? Ugh, seriously. It's kind of long. I think originally my grandfather, the current King of wolves, started off as the son of a warrior werewolf, who served in the previous king's army. Originally, our blood wasn't associated with the monarch. That title was held by the Volks for a handful of centuries.

My grandfather, Kane, grew up, found a wife, had a couple kids. I think my dad was actually born before his father became king. Story has it that the king at the time was a bit of an asshat. No one really truly liked him, but nobody bothered to do anything about it. He had one son, but no one really saw or heard much of him.

One day that king somehow royally pissed off my grandfather. My grandfather was highly regarded, as his father had served in the legion, but the king was disrespectful. In a fit of rage, my grandfather smashed the kings head against a stone wall, and killed him.

In previous werewolf monarch tradition, the king was meant to be changed when his son was able to best him in a fight. It was unheard of for an outsider to even harm a monarch. Werewolves were in a bit of a tizzy for a while, before my grandfather was made King, and his children Princes and Princesses. His wife was, a bit reluctantly, made Queen. She used to say 'I've got so many children I can barely handle them. How am I supposed to help look after _all_ of you?'

Really, honestly, I don't know why you don't ask my dad or my uncle about that. I don't really know too much of what happened, I came _way_ after all that. My uncle, Darren, actually loves to tell that story. He was a little kid when it had happened, and he thought it was the coolest shit since sliced bread. Well… before sliced bread, actually, but that's not the point.

My grandfather had five sons (including my father) and four daughters. Contrary to some belief, most werewolf families don't breed like rabbits. They have maybe three, four kids, enough to pass on their genes. My family, however, never does anything halfway. My father had eight siblings, and then moved on to have eleven children.

Yup, you heard right. _Eleven fucking kids._ Needless to say, our household was often loud and often busy. My mother, a fairly eccentric Korean woman, was always around to put the hammer down on us when we got too rambunctious. My father didn't do muc

My oldest brother was Bodolf, who was thirty-three at the time. He had gotten married when he was twenty-five and invited our _entire_ fucking family. God knows how we managed to get everyone there. He even managed to get all of our siblings included in the wedding, even my youngest sister who was two at the time. Finnick, my three other brothers and I had stood at his side, proudly. His wife was a pretty cool person. The two of them were very relaxed and easy-going, a lot like our parents. The two of them had a son, Chace, who had been five at the time. One of the cutest little kids you'll ever meet. Curly head of hair, bright eyes, always smiling.

After Bodolf, was my older sister, Tala. She was a year younger than our brother. She probably embraced werewolfhood the most out of all of us, having been the only one _born_ with the werewolf gene. She lived most of her life near woods, so that she could change often and roam in her wolf form. She actually met her husband in the woods.

When she had been about twenty-two, she had been roaming around and not paying attention when a hunter shot her right in the side. In her surprise and pain, she had shifted back into human form, which had confused the dude _a lot_ when he reached her. Somehow, the two ended up dating for six years, and then eventually got married. Tala had always been hesitant about marrying, not enjoying the idea of being tied down with too many commitments outside of the forest, but her husband actually _liked_ being out with her. I think they were thinking about kids, too, but weren't really ready to have to look after other human beings yet.

My next sibling was my brother Caleb, who was twenty-nine. He was a stern and strict guy, which made him fit right in when he joined the military at the age of twenty-one. He was a no nonsense kind of guy, with a deep sense of loyalty. And while he was able to manage bands of werewolves with ease, conflict was rare. War, however, was not. At least, among human mortals. So, he enlisted. He rose through the ranks, I think, with some speed, and was a Colonel by the time he was twenty-eight.

Faelan, was the next child, born two years after Caleb. She worked as a social worker in New York City. She strongly believed in helping other people, and did everything in her power to improve lives. I think she got that from our uncle Finn. She used to love to listen to him talk about his trips around the world, helping out various people. She met a werewolf man in a bar there. He had immediately smelled her, and then, apparently, _saw_ her and fell in love in an instant. The two had gotten engaged within a year and a half.

Fae was always very protective of her siblings. While she strongly believed we could take care of ourselves, she always made it a point to send Finnick and I food while we were at school. I think she sent a lot of things overseas to Caleb, when he was away. I don't think she was actually _allowed_ send as much as she did, and I think it sometimes annoyed our older brother, but she still did it.

Brielle was the next born, just a year later. I honestly didn't know too much about her. She was six years older than me, and by the time I was twelve she was out of the house. She enjoyed painting, and often disappeared for months without contacting anyone. She frustrated my father, who liked to keep tabs on his children. My mother found her passion endearing, but did wish she would at least let them know she was alive more was definitely a free spirit.

After Breille was Finnick, who you've already met. Loved building things, ever since he was a kid. He always wanted to know how to put things together and how to take them apart. How to build things, how to invent new things. His mind was constant gears turning and turning and turning and turning. He was also very good friends with Nathan Abadeer, Serana's older brother. The two did a lot of work together, both understanding very different things but having understandings. I don't really know what they did, to be honest, it seemed very confusing.

Diana was my next sibling, two years younger than Finnick and three years older than I was. She was always an incredibly studious child, almost as smart as Finnick. She had recently graduated from Stanford for pre-med, with a degree in organic chemistry. She decided to work towards her graduate degree at Columbia after, living with our Fae. It was a good set up, as Diana often pushed herself way too hard and ended up constantly exhausted. Faelan always made sure she rested, she ate, and she took plenty of breaks.

I was the next kid. There wasn't anything exceptionally remarkable about me. I enjoyed hunting on my off time, sometimes Tala's husband took me with him. I hadn't been a wolf very long, my father deciding to invoke the change in me when I turned nineteen. I still had a hard time through my changes, and I wasn't able to shift at will like some of my older siblings could.

Colin was my younger brother. He had been sixteen at the time and still lived with my parents. He was at the same high school I attended, going into his Junior year. He frustrated my mother all the time with his lackadaisical attitude and nonchalant way about life. He smoked a lot of weed, but never drank. He didn't like the feeling of wanting to vomit the morning after. I think he had a girlfriend at the time, who was always getting him to do more stuff. My mother liked her.

After Colin was Channing, a freshman. He was fourteen, and was kind of late getting his height. All of us sons had been at least five foot seven when we entered High School, but he could barely get to five foot two. He had a bit of a complex about it, and our Uncle Finn often reassured him that he would grow. Colin was pretty attached to our blood Uncle Darren. Why, I have no idea. Uncle Darren enjoyed showboating and insulting others, but I suppose to a fourteen-year-old boy he seemed impressive.

Last, but not least, was Sallie-Mae. She was ten year sold, and a spitting image of our Korean mother. She was easily the sweetest kid you'd ever meet too, always smiling brightly. She was probably the second closest to my mom, besides Finnick. She was often by my mother's side, helping her cook or clean, watching as she patched up her sons or husband's clothes. She was also loved deeply by our father, much like all of his daughters had been. It wasn't that he didn't love us sons as well, he did. Just differently.

As a Wolfe man, sometimes a lot was expected of you. You had to be strong, smart, powerful, calm, and a natural born leader. While my father didn't push _all_ those ideals onto us, he did expect us to be model werewolves. As a monarch, there were certain things we _had_ to live up to, or other wolves would look down on us.

And then there was the fact that my father had the potential to be the next king. He didn't want to be, he strongly opposed it, but the other options were my Uncle Darren, who was head-strong but foolhardy, or his two younger brothers who were more pre-occupied with fighting around the world than leading.

Of course, my Uncle Darren was vying for the spot. He had lived most of his life aspiring to be the next king, but pretty much everyone in the family knew that the masses preferred my father. While he was physically weaker, he was calmer, kinder, smarter, and in better company. Though my uncle had worked on his relations with others over many years, he could never top that my father was good friends with the sons of Lucifer as well as the vampire monarchs.

Although my father had little desire to take over the throne, he still raised us in a way that would make us presentable if it happened. That meant martial arts lessons until we were twenty-one (and we were still required to maintain after that) and becoming thoroughly educated in werewolf etiquette, as well as many other species. In comparison to many other species (or even mortal monarchs) this was fairly easy. While we had our moments, most of us never complained.

What some of us didn't like, however, was that were had no choice about werewolfdom. If we weren't born with the innate gene (which most of us weren't) we were changed in between the ages of seventeen and twenty. I, in particular, was changed at nineteen, when my father had decided I had grown enough.

Xx

Xx

 _Kelsey Pillion_

When I sleepily blinked my eyes open, I instantly realized I had no idea where I was. The curtains were dingy and stained, the bed was a bit harder than I was okay with, the blankets were thin, the door looked like it might have a dent in it, and the carpet had the appearance like someone had spilled beer all over it.

I felt an immediate rush of panic as I lifted myself, cursing when my head throbbed. I scanned around through half squinted eyes, looking for something familiar, when I saw a pair of Timberland boots haphazardly laying on the floor. I blinked when I realized that those were _Serana's_ boots and continued to look around.

There were clothes thrown all over the floor and a shirt at the foot of the bed. I recognized some of the clothing as mine, a red t-shirt and a pair of cotton shorts. I distinctly remembered those being the last things I had put on, and my face paled. Hesitantly, I looked down at myself.

I was wearing a large plain white shirt, that I didn't recognize. Heat rushed to my face as I slowly started to remember where I was and why I was dressed like this. I began to feel a bit light-headed as I remember _what_ I had done last night to end up dressed like this. As the memories came rushing back into my head, the door to the small room swung open. I instinctively jumped, a small squeak escaping my throat.

"Surprise, love," A melodic voice hummed out. Amusement glittered in her eyes as she smiled. "I've come to kill you. Or bring you breakfast muffins. Take your pick."

"Ha- ha," I said, sarcastically. I rolled my eyes as Serana walked in and kicked the door closed, holding a white paper bag and one of those foam cup holders, two steaming cups of coffee standing ready. She took off the flip flops she was wearing and sat down on the bed. Clearly she hadn't put much effort into going out, as she was wearing a pair of black and red checkered pants and a grey sweat shirt. Her hair was done up in a loose ponytail and she had glasses on. "You're an ass."

"Ouch, no love for the girl who, valiantly might I add, woke up early to make sure you had something to eat?" Serana said, mocking hurt while she opened the bag. She handed me a blueberry muffin and one of the coffees. "I even went and got this from your mate George. Shame, really, that he knows what you get for breakfast and I don't."

"I've known you for a handful of weeks," I snorted, accepting the muffin and coffee. "I've known George for three years."

"Should I be jealous?" She asked, raising an amused eyebrow.

"Of my barista?" I said. I smirked as I chuckled. "Extremely."

"Noted." She said with a nod. "I'll have to keep tabs on him. Didn't seem like a slimy guy, but it's the good ones that always surprise you the most."

"Well, he hasn't killed people in front of me yet," I said with a nonchalant shrug. I stuck out my tongue and she smirked. "So maybe he'll get a first date before you."

"Oi, I haven't even asked yet," Serana laughed. "As much as I do admit that cocky looks good on you, love, you don't even know if I'm going to ask you out."

"After proclaiming your love for me yesterday?" I snickered as I took a sip of my favorite coffee, humming happily at the familiar taste. "I'd say it's an easy prediction."

"First of all, I did not _proclaim_ my _love_ for you," Serana responded, laying down on her stomach and spreading out. Her eyes rolled lazily as she looked back at me. "I told you that I liked you. And secondly, I think after last night, _you_ should be asking _me_ out."

"And you call me cocky," I said, squinting my eyes at her, hiding a small smile.

"Call it a bout of confidence," She laughed again, looking up at me, her blue eyes shining with her laughter.

"You _are_ the one who kidnapped me," I countered, taking a large bite of my muffin. I hadn't even realized how hungry I was until the first bit reached my stomach.

"I did not kidnap you," She said, rolling her eyes as she rolled onto her back. She placed her hands behind her head as she looked at me. "I saved you from the terror that is my mother. Be glad, you could have ended up brain dead."

"I…" I trailed off, unable to think of what I wanted to say next. While my head hurt significantly less than it had before, I still found that my ability to coherently think was hindered. "I appreciate it."

"I wouldn't let her hurt you," Serana said, softly. She looked past me at the ceiling, pursing her lips. "I couldn't live with myself if I did."

"But," I started. Serana's eyes quickly snapped to me, alert. "I can't stay here."

"We're not staying here," Serana said, momentarily puzzled. "We're going to New York City, away from my mom. And then we'll figure out what to do from there."

"I… I can't let you do that." I said, looking away from her. She quickly sat up, so fast that I almost didn't notice, and I could feel her eyes bore into me.

"Why… not?" She said, tentatively. I could hear her take a frustrated breath, but she didn't fight me.

"I can't just leave Chelsea and Quinton, with no reason," I said, looking back at her. A flurry of emotions swirled in her eyes; anger, frustration, sadness, worry. "I couldn't make them worry like that."

"I think they'd feel much worse if you ended up dead," Serana said, tersely.

"You already said you wouldn't let your mom hurt me," I said, with a meek smile. Serana gave an exasperated sigh.

"You're impossible." She said, shaking her head. She looked me right in the eyes, sternly. "You do realize you're gambling, don't you? As hard as I can work to protect you, my mother has thousands of years ahead of me."

"Trust goes both ways," I said, shrugging. "You trusted me… so I'll trust you."

"I trusted you not to expose the fact that I'm a vampire," She said, arching an eyebrow at me with a frown. "You're trusting me with _your life_. I'm not sure the trade-offs very fair."

"Well, maybe one day you'll need me to save you," I said, scratching my cheek and laughing lightly. "So, I'll just have to owe you, I suppose."

"I truly fail to understand why you think putting your life in my hands," She said, chuckling lowly. "Is a good idea. Twice, not just once, might I add. Especially considering I… was rough with those guys from before."

"Rough?" I said, giving her a bemused look. "You tore them apart."

"I…" she sighed, heavily. "I did. Yes. I did. So, try not to blame me if I find your trusting in me baffling."

"Call it a hunch," I say, with a small smile. "Because, despite tearing them apart, you didn't tear _me_ apart. And while I don't enjoy being associated with a killer… I don't know. It's almost like there's something deeper to you."

"Deeper?" She said, snorting humorously. "I'm afraid that you'll find me to be extremely superficial, love, the better you get to know me."

"I guess I'll have the be the judge of that," I said, taking the last bite of my muffin, followed by a swig of coffee. "Which will be done _at school_."

"Damn," She cursed under her breath. "I thought I'd distracted you."

"I'm serious, Serana," I said, looking her in the eyes. The way her head hung ever-so-slightly reminded me of a puppy who knew they were about to get scolded. "Besides, the second that Kelsey tells my mom I'm missing, she'll find me in a heartbeat. I swear, she could find _anyone_. And I don't really want to get chewed out by her."

"…there's no way I can convince you?" Serana tried one last time.

"No, there isn't," I said, slowly shaking my head. Concern swirled in her eyes as she looked at me, before she finally sighed and closed them.

"Fine. I'll take you back." She said, letting out a heavy breath. She shook her head as she smirked back at me. "But _you_ have to ask me out first."

Xx

Xx

 _Nathan Abadeer_

"Nate! What's up?" Finnick said, as he sat in the chair across from me. We were currently at his house, sitting in his study. I would have invited him to my own, but my parents were there and what I needed to discuss with him… well, I didn't want my mother hearing. "It's not often we get to hang out outside of a lab."

"I apologize for that," I said, with an easy smile. Finnick was a man I had, gratefully, called a friend for many years. "I feel like I've been so busy lately that I'm never _not_ in a lab."

"It's fine, we all have our vices," He said with a hearty laugh. He placed a steaming coffee mug in front of me, and took a sip from his own. He looked at my face and frowned. "But by that look on your face, I'm guessing that that's not why you came."

"No, it's not, I'm afraid," I said, sighing and shaking my head. I placed my thumb and my pointer finger against the top of my nose as I spoke. "I wish it was something as simple as that. I have something… supernatural to discuss with you."

"Ah," Finnick said, curtly, though not disrespectfully. "I haven't had much issues with supers lately. When we first got here, sure, a couple little guys tried to step up and see what we were made of, but I thought we had made it clear that this was our territory. Save for a few stray vamps, though I assumed that you took care of most of them."

"I have been," I grunted. "It'd be nice if Serana could pull some weight of her own, but that's not the problem either. Neither is it any of the lessers. In fact, I think that there may be something particularly powerful about this one but I'm not completely sure."

"Not sure?" Finnick said, raising an eyebrow as I looked at him. "You can usually spot that kind of stuff right away."

"Are you familiar with a girl named Kelsey Pillion?" I asked, slowly, reaching for the coffee Finnick had made for me.

"Hmmm," Finnick hummed in thought for a moment. He looked into space for a moment before his wood brown eyes returned to mine. "I think I remember her name being in my class list."

"She's friends with your brother," I said, hoping to clarify more. "And the rest of that merry band."

"Ah!" Finnick said, putting a face to the name. "I've seen her. She sits back with Frank and Derrick. I thought there was something odd smelling about my class room. I had just thought that maybe there were one or two other supers keeping a low profile. I don't recognize her smell, though. It doesn't smell distinctly of one thing I know."

"Exactly!" I said, exasperated. "If I knew what she was, maybe I could figure out what kind of power she had, if she was a threat or not. But for the love of everything, I can't. And to make matters worse, I don't think _she_ is aware that she is super natural."

"She doesn't know?" Finnick said, his eyebrows raising in interest. "I find that incredibly hard to believe because of how… uh, interesting she smells."

"Her smell is… enticing, for lack of a better description," I said, with a nod of agreement. "Seeing as how it's not just limited to one person I'm wondering if that's a trait specific to her breed. But even then, it would be hard to narrow it down. Of course, there's the obvious-"

"A succubus," Finnick said, immediately. I gave him another nod. "Or perhaps a child of one?"

"Or she could possibly descend from a line of powerful kitsune," I said, my eyebrows furrowing as I thought. "But the way she smells… it's almost a clear carnally enticing power. And she doesn't behave in a way that implies that she purposefully exudes it."

"Maybe a descendent of the Prince Asmodeous?" Finnick said, rubbing his forehead. He had done this since we were children, whenever he was thinking. "I'm not too familiar with those, which could be why I can't identify her."

"I don't believe anyone with that man as an ancestor would be able to suppress themselves," I said, shaking my head. "Though I could be wrong."

"…would it be impossible to think…" Finnick said, after a small moment of silence. "That she is something we are both unfamiliar with. Perhaps... something new?"

"Something new…?" I said, testing the thought. "I guess it's not _unheard_ of. The mixing of several species, demons sometimes make contracts with mortals, witches sometimes… but for something like her to be unheard of…"

"It's unheard of," Finnick snickered. "What has your mother, The Vampire Queen, said about it."

"Nothing," I said, frowning. "At least not to me. I think she's become a bit desensitized as of late, as she's been spending a lot of time away from others. Her sense of smell is still strong, but she has a bit of trouble remembering what is what. She did say that she, Kelsey I mean, seemed familiar, though."

"…and you haven't asked her?" Finnick asked, although he likely already knew the answer.

"No, and I don't intend to," I said, with a short shake of my head.

"Perhaps one of us should visit your family's library," Finnick offered, obviously choosing to momentarily drop the subject.

"I've thought about doing so myself," I said, with a frustrated sigh. "But I know that the second I go there, my mother will know, and she will want to know why I was in there."

"I know Tala has been frequenting," Finnick responded, thoughtfully. "I believe she's been looking up parenting books for werewolf mothers. I could ask her to peruse for us."

"That would be excellent," I said, with a smile. "Finnick, I will _never_ take you or your family for granted. I forgot how many siblings you have, and how they're always all over the place."

"Honestly, _I_ sometimes forget how many siblings I have," Finnick laughed as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I'll call her now. What should I ask for?"

"Any accounts relating to temptation demons, or any supers similar." I said. I paused for a moment before continuing. "And perhaps a couple documents from that _incident_. My mother did say she smelled familiar, maybe there's something in there that will help."

"You think that she could have been involved with _that_ incident?" Finnick said, a hint of disbelief undertone in his voice.

"Involved? No." I said, shaking my head. "But, I don't want to rule out all possibilities. There was a number of previously unknown existences involved in that case; including the half-gods. I don't think it would be impossible that something relating to her… species, could have something related in the records."

"And it would be impossible to ask your mother?" Finnick added, carefully.

"It wouldn't be impossible," I said, with a small sigh. "But I'd rather not involve her. She tends to get skeptical, and if she believes Kelsey could be anything dangerous… I'm inclined to believe that she'll simply remove her than to find compromise. Although, I do admit, it would be much easier to be able to ask her. She knows significantly more than I do."

"I'd ask my father, but I think that he both knows very little relating to other species, and that he would not betray his friendship with the Vampire Queen by keeping such information to himself." Finnick said, with a slow nod. "It's not as though the two of us are incapable but… one thing does worry me."

"Hm?" I hummed, encouraging him to finish his thought.

"I'm not going to be surprised if we see an increase in supernatural activity around here," Finnick said, his dark eyes deep in thought. "I wonder if her smell is going to attract other super naturals to the area. Which could pose a problem seeing as how your parents are here."

"And that usually means the rest of the crew shows up and stays for a while," I said with an agreeing nod. "I've thought that, too. And if a certain theory I have about her is correct, then things could get much more complicated."

"Theory?" Finnick asked, taking a long, slow sip from his coffee.

"Lately, there have been moments when… her smell almost seems to… to fluctuate, growing in intensity at certain moments." I said, processing several thoughts at once as I spoke. "Recently, the girl experienced both a somewhat traumatic experience and physical injury. I've been beginning to wonder if perhaps… perhaps one of these events has caused her power to awaken without her realizing. Which would mean that she has no idea how to either suppress or use her power."

"And perhaps attracting others is part of her abilities," Finnick said, his eyes widening slightly in realization. "Meaning it will both be harder to hide her from our parents, and we will likely need to begin with a sense of urgency."

"My thoughts exactly, my friend," I said, scratching my jaw in thought. "Which is why I now encourage us to proceed with haste. Please, call your sister."

"Of course."

Xx

Xx

 _Kathleen Merten_

My feet were neatly tucked underneath me as I sat on my soft, tan couch. My back lightly pressed against the arm of the couch as I scrolled through my phone. It was a comfortably quiet mid-afternoon, just after I had gone out to lunch.

I peeked up from my phone to look at the boy sitting across from me. His dark red hair was only a bit messy, probably because it was getting long, as his eyes scanned across the pages of his book. He was reading _To Kill A Mockingbird_ , his eyes knit slightly with focus. His small, round glasses just barely hung on his nose as he looked down. His legs were stretched out along the couch, his feet ghosting my leg when he shifted. He had on a pair of very normal white sweatpants and a black t-shirt. He had changed from his previous outfit, having left a couple articles of clothing at my place. As per my request, I enjoyed borrowing his clothes. Everything he owned was _incredibly_ soft.

Quinton and I had gone to lunch earlier, a local sushi place that was close to the class he had been in prior. To be completely honest, it was _rare_ that I let a boy take me out. It wasn't really a date (none of our outings really were), but still. I was kind of a… well, I was a use them and lose them girl. To me, guys were good for one thing. Sometimes, not even that.

I had previously believed I was fine with my quota of guy friends. Derrick was my cousin, and even though he was a goof, he was a nice guy. Franklin had no interest in me, nor did I seeing as how we were basically family, but we respected each other. You know, like a good guy-girl friendship. Eugene and Dean were good friends of mine, but there had never been anything there either.

I never really hung out with any one of them. I mean, we hung out in groups, but it was never just one of _them_ and me. It was just much easier to hang out with Serana most times, because there were never any implications there. Well, I mean, maybe outside implications, considering _everyone_ knew that Serana slept with anything that walked, but her and I… we were cool.

I definitely never spent time with the boys _I_ slept with. Even sober, I couldn't remember most of their names or faces. If I could find them mildly tolerable, it was fine. I didn't need more than that.

Sometimes I wondered if maybe I had some deeper issue I needed resolved. Like I sought out these guys because I wanted love, love that I had never gotten from my unknown mother. Which doesn't _really_ make sense, because I got more than enough parental love from my father. But I suppose it wasn't the same. To know that someone had just simply… not wanted me. I mean… it kind of sucked.

Maybe that was part of the reason my relationship with Quin was so confusing to me. Nothing about us was official; we hooked up, we hung out. But, it was so weird to me. To have a friend that I was sexually attracted to. Or, to have a guy I hooked up with actually be interesting as a person. He was funny, he was smart, he was nice… most of the time. He enjoyed literature, which I didn't get too much, but he always listened intently when I told him about my own interests. He remembered things about me, like that my favorite color was orange (when I had only mentioned it once) or what movies I liked.

It was hard to define what we were at that point. I wasn't completely convinced that I wanted to have an exclusive relationship yet. While he had been the only person I had been with recently, that didn't mean I wanted to cut off all options. And he didn't seem like he was in any sort of rush to tie down, so why would I bring it up?

His eyes glowed with amusement when he saw that I had been looking at him, raising one of his thick eyebrows at me and smirking.

"Can I help you?" He asked, his voice husky as he spoke.

"I was just wondering if you needed a haircut soon," I said, with a chuckle. I looked back down at my phone, continuing to scroll through the stream of posts on my screen. "It looks a bit shaggy."

"Ah," he said, laughing. "I was wondering if I should go for a more 'dashingily rogue' sort of look. Not working for me?"

"Hmmm," I hummed, taking another glance at him. I tilted my head slightly to the side as I thought, noting his small grin. "I guess you could pull it off. You'd have to actually _do_ something with it though, not just wake up and hope it looks okay."

"Blegh," he said, sticking his tongue out in mock disgust. "Sounds like too much work. I'll have to see a barber soon."

"Are you going to keep the same hairstyle?" I asked curiously, looking back down at my phone. There were a couple interesting news posts, so I clicked on them.

"It's not really a hairstyle as much as it's me getting it trimmed, and then it just falls into place," he said, with a small shrug. "Why? Should I get a new one?"

"No," I responded. "I like it like that. The kind of wavy, hopped out of bed look just so happens to fall right in the category of 'things I like on guys'."

"Huh," he said, with a noncommittal huff. "I'm honored to have something of mine make it onto the list."

"Wow," I said, snorting with amusement. "I'm surprised I didn't get a 'that's the only thing you like on me?' joke."

"I don't need to ask," he said, definitely wearing a cocky smirk at this point. "Besides, I don't need your approval. I'm a strong, independent boy. If you told me you didn't like me, I'd just have to find a girl who does. An ego booster."

"Ouch, is that all I am to you?" I said, with a small laugh. "An ego booster?"

"I make it habit to separate ego and friendship," He said, chuckling deeply as he read. "If I let my friends be in charge of talking me up, I'd have no self-confidence."

"Somehow, I think it'd take more than a few guys telling you you're shit to convince you," I hummed, continuing to scroll. I noticed an article that seemed interesting and clicked. "Huh."

"What's up?" he asked, looking at me from over his book.

"This article I just clicked on, it's from around here," I said, proceeding to read the article aloud.

 _Local Animal Attacks Count At least Four Dead_

 _As of this Wednesday, two days ago, the kill count of local predators has climbed up to four. In the past week, four students from the local University have been found dead in secluded areas. Police theorize that they were attacked by large, carnivorous animals._

 _As of now, the reasons for the victims being in such places in unknown. Some say that perhaps the victims happened to be there, others say that they were brought there; whether by the animals or another person is yet to be determined._

 _Police are hesitant to hunt down local wildlife. While bite marks match the basic shape of local wolves, authorities say that they are much bigger and uncharacteristic._

" _The wolves that live around here have never made a habit of attacking random civilians," an official told us. "And they don't rip people apart, like these past four. Whatever is at work here is different from any animal native to these parts."_

 _Police advise citizens to avoid walking at night, and to stay in more populated areas. More updates to come._

"Wolves?" Quin said, curiously. "I've never pegged them as the needlessly violent kind of species. My mother says that they can actually be rather docile, unless provoked."

"Wolves wouldn't do this," I said with a thoughtful hum. "It must be something _pretty_ treacherous, attacking people like it does."

"If you're scared, don't worry," He said, throwing a cocky grin my way. "I'll make sure I protect you."

"Pfft," I snorted, rolling my eyes. "My savior."

"In all seriousness, though," He said, laughing. "If you're walking around at night, call me. I'll walk with you."

"I appreciate the thought, but I don't need protection," I chuckled darkly. "I can handle myself."

"Well, it would still make me feel better." He said, with a small shrug. "Or maybe call Derrick. He's much bigger than I am, definitely would scare something off much faster."

Xx

Xx

So. Hi guys. Bet you thought you saw the last of me. Surprise bitch.

I'm sorry that this chapter is kind of short, at least by my standards. Trying to get back in the swing of things was a bit rough. It was kind of like beginning a story, which I _suck_ at. But I think in the end it came out okay.

In reality, this chapter was mostly me coming back into my writing style and setting up some of what's to happen later in the story. Lucky for me, I did remember probably 75% of what I had been starting before everything got deleted, so it won't veer too much.

I also feel as though I should answer some questions people may have:

 _How often will updates be?_

As often as I can, which won't be super often. During the time I've been gone, I've actually been dealing with some brain damage which makes it very hard for me to sit down and write for several hours like I used to. I'm really only able to do 2/3 hour spurts a day, as opposed to when I would sit down and write in two seven/eight hour sessions. This also means I can't get into as much as a flow as I did before, because I can't just keep going and going.

 _Did you finish outlining? How come we don't get consistent updates if everything's set up?_

I am actually _not_ completely finished outlining. Character boards and the basic plot line has been detailed, but I haven't finished the fine-tuning of what happens in every chapter. I have, however, managed to finish the next ten, so we are set for a while.

I don't consistently update because I prefer not to put a time stamp on when I post. I try to write whenever I can, but I don't always have the time. And I'd prefer to write something good and get it edited, than just throw slop your way.

 _Will this story be as dark as the last?_

Yes. If not, darker. I do feel this is an appropriate time to let you guys know that I do explore some very dark subjects. I didn't in the last IJYPB and I feel that was irresponsible of me. Hopefully, none of you were ever triggered by what I wrote. That being said, there will be _very_ dark segments in this story, so please take care as you read.

 _How are you doing…?_

As most of you know, from my last story, I suffer from mental instability. I suffer from depression, bits of paranoia, and possible psychosis. I'd like to take this moment to say that those are not actual diagnosis (as I prefer not to go to doctors) and I don't ever mean to disrespect those that _are_ diagnosed with any mental illness.

Due to several issues I had with my own mental and emotional health, I was unable to stay at school. I was brought home after I attempted to take my own life and watched over by my wonderful mother and my amazing siblings. It has been over a year since, and I _am_ doing much better. Things are still hard for me, especially the fact that I'm no longer at school, but I am working on myself.

As always, please throw me some comments, reviews and criticism! Clearly this is not a work of perfection, and may be edited a bit in the future. Replies to comments will restart next chapter!


	8. Chapter 7

Music;

Honestly, if you've got Spotify just look up that 'Acoustic Covers' playlist, cuz I love that shit and just kinda listened to it for most of this.

There isn't really a super theme for any parts of this, so there's not really any specific music, I apologize. At the beginning I was listening to the 'Decedents 2' soundtrack (my god I love everything Disney), but that was making the chapter really weird, so I had to stop. Don't ask.

Anyways, enjoy!

Xx

xx

 _Derrick Merten_

I had never been under the mistaken impression that I was the most interesting member of my friend group. Even outside of the realm of power and supernatural abilities, my personality didn't always… stand out, I guess. Not that I was ever resentful of this fact, it was just who I was.

I think that my father had struggled with it previously, but that may have related to the fact that the two girls he had crushes on in high school ended up picking other people. The first had gone with the mysterious, cool vampire princess, which I think he got. But then the second, an angel, had picked his moody, "unlikeable" younger sister. Ouch, right?

But that issue had never come up with my group. We tended not to intermingle, especially we were all pretty much family. I mean, I wasn't interested in dudes, so that would've left me with Serana, who slept with anything that moved, or my cousin. Eugh. There was also the fact that I often interacted _outside_ our group of six. I had many other friends, some that I actually hung out with almost as often as my guys.

My dad? What about him? What he was like?

Well, I don't know, he was kind of… just a dad. He traveled a lot, doing various "save the world" things all over. I went with him on a couple of his trips; helping get clean water to third world countries or helping the homeless get cleaned up and employed. He enjoyed what he did, a lot. He was a guy with a lot of morals; still is.

I had been raised to know right from wrong. It wasn't necessarily drilled in me, but my dad usually taught by example. It was one of the things my mother admired about him, his ability to see good in almost anyone.

My Uncle Jake once told me that he hadn't always been like that. He had to grow into being his 'angelic' self. 'Long time ago, he used to be this angsty little teenage boy, unable to see any good in those who were against him.' A few hundred years had been kind to him, I suppose.

My dad had two ideals that stood out against the rest; Honesty and Compassion. If you couldn't tell the truth, if you couldn't reach out to help others, my father immediately would distrust you.

Well, there it was, my little excerpt. I mean, I suppose I could go into more detail about my childhood, but to be completely honest it was incredibly boring. I suppose if at any point it becomes relevant, I'll bring it up. But there just wasn't any need to. Not right now anyways. Just remember; _I_ enjoy being the moral guy.

Xx

 _Kelsey Pillion_

"…are you sure you want to do this?" Serana said, for probably the hundredth time. Worry laced her voice, and I could see her eyebrows furrowed in concern out of the corner of my eye.

"I'm sure, Serana," I said, turning to fully looked at her. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously, her fingertips drumming against the steering wheel. The world passed by us as she drove down the road. The leather seats of her Jeep were comfortable, the seat warmer making me buzz pleasantly as I wrapped my sweater sleeves around my hands. "This is something I need to do."

"Are you cold?" She said, glancing at me quickly. She reached over to turn the heat up a bit and sighed. "I apologize, love. I'm not used to having someone in my car that can feel the cold that much."

"None of you guys feel the cold?" I asked, appreciative of the new heat warming my body.

"Derrick's the only one, really," She responded, with a small shrug. "Vampires are always cold, Werewolves had a tendency to have really abnormally high internal body heat, and demons typically don't get too cold."

"What? Demon?" I said, surprised. "One of you guys are a demon?"

"Yeah, Kathleen," She said, shrugging again. "She might be something else too, but we wouldn't know. Her dad's a demon, and no one knows who her mom is."

"Huh…" I murmured, thinking. I turned to her quickly with a sharp thought; "My brother's banging a demon? Should I be… worried?"

"I know what you're thinking," Serana snickered, amused. "She's not a succubus or any seducey type like that. She's just a demon, jacked up strength and speed, plus some minor use of magic. Not as much as my family, of course, but we're a bit of a different story."

"Different story how? Aren't you guys vampires?" I asked, curiously.

"Well, technically, vampires _came_ from a demon," Serana began to explain, carefully choosing her words. I think she was trying to dumb it down a bit, so that a mortal like me could understand. "Well, more technically, we got our… powers from a demon. He… 'blessed' my grandmother with her abilities, who then passed it on to her husband. The two of them, by all means of the word, were _normal_ vampires. My mother and uncle, though, were still _en utero_ when all this happened."

"Your grandmother was… pregnant… when she turned into a vampire?" I said, testing the words carefully. "So then how did…?"

"How did the big bad Vampire Queen and her unholy throat ripping brother come into existence?" Serana responded, with a small chuckle. I looked at her, her eye looking at me from the corner of her socket, an eyebrow raised. "I'm… not entirely sure. I'm not even sure my mom really knows the details. I know she was stuck in there for a while, much longer than the usual nine months. The more important fact was that they _were_ born into this world. Normally, when a child is born into this world, they come in with innocence and purity."

"But your mom…" I started, only for Serana to finish.

"Was born a vampire. Correct." Serana said, with a small nod of her head. "The innocence of a baby if akin to that of the holy spirit of an angel, so when a baby is born as a monster, they immediately become a fallen angel."

"A… fallen angel?"

"A fallen angel, yes," Serana confirmed and continued. "Which is, typically, more powerful than a normal demon. Are you familiar with the tale of the leader of Hell? The one who stood by God, as his best friend, before their untimely fall."

"Uh, a little, I guess," I said, with a small shrug. "I'm sorry, I can't say I've ever been the religious type."

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart," Serana laughed whole heartedly. "It takes more than knowing about the Holy Wanker up there to make someone like me a believer. Anyways, it's not entirely true. Nothing usually is with history, but they got parts of it."

"Parts of it?"

"A story for another time," Serana said, with an amused hum. She pulled into her driveway and slowed her car to a stop before pulling her keys out of the ignition. She turned to me, her previous worry returning to her light blue eyes. "You're sure you want to do this, love?"

"I'm sure, Serana," I said, smiling at her lightly, attempting to reassure her. She merely bit her lip and furrowed her eyebrows. "I mean it."

"Hmmm," She said, before springing from her seat and opening her door. She disappeared for a moment before I heard my own door click open and jumped in surprise. Serana smiled coyly as she held the door open for me. "Ma'am?"

"For the love of all that's-" I grunted as I held my pounding heart. "You scared the crap out of me."

"I apologize," Serana laughed as I took her hand and helped me step out of her, rather tall, Wrangler. "It wasn't my intention, as amusing as it was. C'mon now, love, chop, chop. Let's head on over to your impending doom."

"May God have mercy on my soul," I chuckled as she dropped my hand and beckoned for me to follow her up her front porch stairs. She turned over her shoulder to give me an odd look before exhaling a small laugh.

"It's not God you need to be asking," Serana said, as she opened her front door.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said, humming nervously as I passed the threshold.

"Hello?" Serana called as she cautiously walked into her home. I followed close behind her, looking around her back to see if I saw anyone. "Anyone here?"

She walked past the entrance slowly, and tensed just before she turned into the living room. She gave me a look over her shoulder before swallowing drly.

"Daughter." I saw Marceline as I passed the wall and came to the entrance way. She was standing dead center of the living room, her arms crossed, with an _incredibly_ angry look on her face. Her eyes flickered over to mine for a brief second, flashing with a bright blood red color.

"Mother." Serana replied, just as curtly. Dangerous electricity sparked between them as they both remained umoving.

"Either you've come back because you realize the error in your ways…" She said, her frown heavy. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Or you've come to do something incredibly stupid."

"Right, "Serana scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Because if I don't do what _you_ want, I'm being stupid."

"I've never heard you say something so intelligent," The Vampire Queen replied, humorlessly. "So, daughter of mine, which is it?"

"It's, uh, neither, ma'am," I said, chiming in before Serana could snap at her. Serana looked at me warily. My eyes met Marceline's, who looked at me with no contempt but no compassion. "Well, at least, in my opinion. I've come… to talk. I actually had to talk her into it."

"You came to talk to me?" She said, raising an eyebrow. Her angry frown faded into something slightly confused.

"Uh, yes, I did," I said, with a small nod. "I understand you're under the impression that I may… reveal what you are, to other people."

"Alright," Marceline said, with a small sigh. She massaged the area between her eyes and turned to sit on the long couch pressed against the far wall. "I'll entertain it. Let's talk."

"You're…" Serana suddenly said, surprised. She took a small step in front of me, addressing her mother. "You're actually listening?"

"I'm not an unreasonable person, Serana," Marceline said, pursing her lips. She spread her arms against the back of the couch and crossed one leg over the other. "If you have something to say, I _will_ listen. I don't _want_ to kill her, like you think I do. If I can avoid harming your friend, I will. Remind me what your name is?"

"Kelsey." I said, with a small polite smile. "I'm Kelsey Pillion."

"Hmmm," She said, with a small hum. She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. When they opened again, they were no longer a stark blood red, but a calm, kind dark brown. "So… you say you won't run for the masses, right? And what about if this… uh, romance, between the two of you ends."

"The reason I wouldn't tell isn't because Serana and I are currently… uh… I mean, you know," I said, feeling my face become flush. I blinked a couple times, recomposing myself before speaking again. "I don't feel like there's any reason to go tell anyone about you guys. I mean, sure, Serana killed a couple people in front of me, but the rest of everyone seem like such good people."

"Hold on, I'm sorry," Marceline said, quickly, leaning forward with another flash of anger. "I really don't mean to cut you off, but did you say _she killed people in front of you_?"

"I, ah," I spluttered, flustered, throwing a glance at Serana, who was paler than normal. Which was quite a feat. I felt a sudden flash of heat in the room and turned to look back at Marceline.

"Gah!" I yelped as I saw that she was right in front of me, looking past me at her daughter. I hadn't even heard her get this close. I clutched at my heart, hoping to capture it and reel it in as it felt like it had just leapt out my throat. She seemed to notice my distress and sighed, apologetically.

"Please allow me to take this moment to apologize for my daughter's haphazard behavior," She said, with a polite dip of her head. "And for scaring you."

"It's not a problem," I said, quietly, intimidated despite the fact that she was trying to be kind.

"You." Marceline hissed harshly, her eyes flashing with red anger as she looked back at her daughter. "You have exactly one minute to _try_ to explain to me why I shouldn't rip off all your fingers and stick them up your ass."

"They _attacked_ her," Serana spat back, exasperated as she gestured towards me with her head. "I couldn't just let the-"

"Just _not_ kill them?!" Marceline roared back. "I'm not even saying you couldn't get a little violent. You probably could beat ten men with an arm tied behind your back without your limiter. But you probably took it off. Right?... Did you?"

"Yes," She said, bowing her head to avoid looking in her mother's eyes. "I didn't have it on."

"Excuse me?" Marceline said, leaning forward. "Say it again. I can't hear you over your _cowering._ "

"Enough!" Serana shouted, snapping her head to look at her mothers. Her eyes flashed with the same red anger, and I felt _very_ out of place. "I made a mistake, alright! I get it!"

"A _mistake_?" Marceline spluttered, her mouth opening and closing as she searched for words in her fury. "This isn't even the first time you've done this. One or two times, it's a mistake! Multiple times, it's a pattern. It's a habit, Serana. And if it's a habit you can't kick, you will be returning home faster than you can say _**bat**_."

"Right, right," Serana spat, sarcastically. "Because you never did _anything_ stupid."

"Are you getting cheeky with me, little leech?" Marceline said, with a slight dark chuckle. Her eyes flashed again as she addressed her daughter. "Did I do stupid things? Yes. This stupid? No. That would be your uncle, who was often accordingly punished. Perhaps that's been my mistake; should I start getting as violent with you as I do him?"

At this Serana's previous confidence noticeably shrunk down. Her eyes widened slightly and she swallowed. Marceline snorted.

"I didn't think so." Marceline said. She paused for a moment, quirking an ear. There was a small rush of wind and she sighed lightly. "Yes, dear?"

"Please tell me I didn't hear you say what I _think_ you just said," A sugary yet annoyed voice said from behind me. I whipped around, surprised. "You're being tasteless."

"I don't need to be tasteful when handling my rogue daughter," Marceline grunted, although her anger had visibly subsided. The woman behind me was beautiful by every sense of the world. Long strawberry blonde hair, that flowed well down her waist. Cream colored skin on thin limbs. She was shorter than I was, but had an incredible presence as she stood with her arms crossed and an annoyed frown on her curved lips. As I was looking at her I noticed how blue her eyes were and blinked. "Honestly, Bonnibel, I don't understand why we take it so easy on her. She's just as bad as Marshall sometimes."

"I'm _not_ leading you torture our daughter the same way you do your brother," the woman responded, quickly. I noticed Marceline shrink ever so slightly out of the corner of my eye. "Besides, that man is _sadist_. Serana just need to learn."

"She's eighteen years old," Marceline almost whined out. "How much longer do I have to wait for her 'learn'? It's not fair to make Nathan always have to cover up her episodes."

"You're right," the woman said, with a small nod. "Which is why we should have never let her move in with your mother."

"Ah, so it comes back to her," Marceline said, with a small huff. "I told you if you didn't want her there, all you had to say was no. It's not like I _really_ wanted her there either. I don't even understand why you bring this up all the time. Should I take her out of school now? She can get home-schooled again, on the island."

"For the love of…" the strawberry blonde sighed and shook her head. "Marceline, you obviously know that's not what anyone wants. Serana should be able to explore the world."

"And kill people while she does so," Marceline said, pursing her lips. "Alright. Good. Message loud and clear."

"No," the woman sighed again, heavier this time. "I'm saying _talk_ to her this time, instead of threatening and antagonizing her like you do _every other_ time."

" _Fine_ ," Marceline said, taking a swift step and grabbing her daughter by the shoulder. She looked at the other woman and rolled her eyes. "We'll do this _your_ way. Let's go, brat."

"What. What." Serana spluttered, wide eyed as her mother began to push her back towards the front door. "Seriously? Mom? You're going to let her take me?"

"She's your mother as well, Serana," the blonde said, with a stern look. Serana looked at me, instant concern in her eyes.

"I can't leave Kelsey here," She said, looking back at her mother. Marceline paused and looked back at me. "I _won't_ leave Kelsey here."

"You'd rather have her spend more time with the Vampire Queen?" Rhe woman said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oi," Marceline said, pouting out her lower lip. "I am barrel loads of fun."

"Right, point taken," Serana said, letting out a heavy breath. "You'll… you'll keep an eye on her."

"I will," the woman said, with a kind smile in my direction. She looked back at her daughter with compassionate eyes. "You know I'd never lay a hand on someone you cared about."

"…thank you. Mother." Serana said, with a small nod.

"Alright, out we go," Marceline said, giving Serana a rough push. Her daughter gave her a cold glare and an anger huff, which she ignored. Before they passed the wall, Marceline paused again and looked at me. She examined me for just a moment before saying; "Huh. You really remind me of a friend I used to have. She was the honest kind, too."

Marceline then resumed shoving her daughter forward, while Serana shouted and demanded an explanation. The two left with heavy, haphazard steps and back and forth bickering. As soon as the door shut, however, I heard absolutely nothing.

 _Right_. I thought to myself. _Vamp speed._

"It's nice to see you again, Kelsey," the woman said, addressing me. I jumped slightly, surprised, as I looked at her. She gave me a kind smile, her eyes lit with gentleness. "I apologize. I didn't mean to startle you."

"Ah, no, it's fine," I said with a nervous laugh. Something registered in my mind. "'Again'? Have we met before?"

"Oh, I forgot," she laughed lightly, turning to walk into the living room and sat down on the same couch Marceline had been on. "You weren't exactly… conscious the first time."

"Excuse me?" I said, blinking. I walked over to the couch to the left, and sat down. "I wasn't conscious?"

"Serana and Marceline brought you over here before," She explained, calmly. She crossed her legs and placed her hands on her knee. "You were hemorrhaging. My brother and I managed to stop it, with some help from Nathan. Lucky for us, it was caught pretty soon, and Marceline was there to pause the bleeding. She honestly probably would've fixed it for you herself, but she's actually bad with anatomy."

"You… you saved me?" I said, in awe. "I mean, you don't even know me."

"I don't have to know someone to help them," she said, with a small frown.

"Oh, well, I mean, I know that," I said, scratching my cheek nervously. "But, uh, Serana's mom seemed pretty…"

"Apathetic?" She said, with a light laugh. "She may seem like someone who'd not care, but she wouldn't have let you die. She avoids hurting people, when she can. She's never _actually_ been one to unnecessarily hurt people or standby. Also, I am actually Serana's mom, too, so you can call her Marceline."

"You're her…?" I said, trailing off. "Oh! So then, you're a vampire, too. I thought your eyes kind of looked similar."

"I am a vampire," She said, patiently. She hesitated for a second before gasping. "Oh my goodness! I haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm so sorry, that's incredibly impolite of me. I'm Bonnibel Bubblegum, Marceline's wife, and Serana and Nathan's mother."

"Bonnibel… Bubblegum?" I said, trying to mask my confusion.

"Strange name, right?" She said, laughing heartily. "I don't really know what my parents were thinking. They must have had a sweet tooth when I was born. I've got a twin brother actually; his name is Gilroy Gumball."

"Bubblegum and Gumball," I said, laughing a little. "I mean, it does match, right? Definitely fits twin criteria."

"It does, doesn't it?" Bonnibel said, continuing to giggle. "I hope you get to meet him, someday. He's a very nice guy, although a little strict with his sons and uptight."

"Dean and Eugene?" I asked.

"You've met them?" She asked back, smiling. "Although, I should have assumed that. I don't think the twins and my daughter go more than a day without seeing each other."

"They're good guys," I said, with a nod, smiling back. "Funny, too."

"What's funny is Dean's moustache," Bonnibel laughed again. "I don't know _what_ my nephew is thinking, trying to grow that thing back. It looks like an overgrown caterpillar."

"I wouldn't go that far," I snickered, remembering the facial hair with amusement.

"I'm glad you're laughing," Bonnibel said, grinning. "I was worried that Marceline would have scared you too much."

"I feel like she means well," I said, with a small shrug. "I mean, yes, she _did_ scare the living crap out of me. But it just looks like she wants to protect you guys. I think."

"She does," Bubblegum said, with a pleased hum. "I'm glad that you could see that in her. Most people don't; herself included. She loves our family very dearly, and she'd do anything to protect it."

"I can't say I blame her," I said, laughing lightly. "My parents would probably do the same. Well, my mom at least. She had a nasty temper sometimes."

"As does my wife," Bonnibel giggled. "Although, I'm not sure Marceline's temper is something that I should be laughing at. It can get pretty violent sometimes, most often directed at her brother. She… she means well, though."

Xx

 _Dean Abadeer_

"James, Eugene," Pop said, with a large, happy grin spread across his face. "I feel like I haven't seen you in ages! How have you guys been?"

"Pop, we've only been gone for a little over a month," Eugene said, biting back a light sigh.

"That's more than enough time for me to miss my little bloodsuckers," Pop said, with a loud laugh. "How've you guys been, really? Has the game here been any good?"

"Marshall!" Dad quickly growled, narrowing his eyes at Pop. Pop just held his hands up and smiled, looking at my brother and I.

"You'd have to ask Serana," I said, with a small shrug. "She's the only one that's tasted human blood here. Nathan's been giving us blood bags from the hospital."

"Blood bags," Pop said, unable to hide the slight disappointment in his voice. "You… haven't bit into a _real_ person?"

"I'm afraid not," Eugene said, placing his hand in his chin. We were sitting in the small suite that my fathers were staying in, in a hotel only three minutes away from campus. There was one couch, which my two fathers sat on (Pop with his arms laid across the back and his legs spread, Dad with one leg crossed over the other) and a living chair, which Eugene sat on, and a desk chair, where I was. Eugene had his elbow propped on the arm of the chair, his legs spread much like our Pops. "We don't make it a habit of biting into the locals. Nathan would fight us."

"Nathan would only throw a fit if you made a mess," Marshall groaned, rolling his head back dramatically. "C'mon! Seriously? What did I even send you guys to college for?"

"To obtain valuable human interaction?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "To learn how to behave in a setting _outside_ of a castle?"

"Touché, James," Pop said, looking back down at me, with a small smirk. He jerks a thumb towards Dad. "You get _my_ sarcasm, but his brains."

"What did I get?" Eugene asked, mockingly pouting.

"Our good-looks," Pop responded, with a smile.

"We look the same," Eugene frowned back at our pop.

"And with looks like that, you guys should have some side pieces by now," Pop exclaimed, exasperated. "Are you guys _still_ single? I can't believe you two haven't found someone to settle with yet."

"We're eighteen," Eugene laughed. "We're not 'settling' any time soon, Pop. Not everyone settles in their adolescence."

"For the record, your dad is the only one who settled in their adolescence," Pop just laughed back. "I was already ancient by the time we hooked up."

"For the love of-" Dad shook his head and sighed.

"Alright, but even if you're not settling, you haven't found anyone _remotely_ interesting?" Pop continued to question. He turned to look at me and raised a disappointed eyebrow. "James? _Anyone_?"

"I've met interesting people, sure," I said, with a small, non-committal shrug. "But not the kind of interesting you're implying."

"Good _god_ ," Pop sunk back in his seat and cracked his neck. "You two are going to hit a century soon enough and _still_ be single. I want a cute little in-law."

"That's not really inspiring me to bring anyone home," Eugene chuckled. "Especially knowing that as soon as I do, you'll turn on your weird charm and steal them away."

" _Please_ ," Pop rolled his eyes. "You have _my_ looks and your dads looks. I couldn't steal anyone away from either of you. It takes more than a thousand-watt smile and charming wit to get people these days. Not like in _my_ day, where all I had to do was look pretty and compliment them a few times."

"Is that how you snatched Dad?" I laughed. Our Dad huffed and crossed his arms, always getting lost in a conversation with our father and his sons.

"It _baffles_ me how he managed to snatch me," He puffed out, pouting out a lip. " _And_ how I've managed to put up with him this long."

"You love me," Pop said, wrapping his arm around his husband's shoulder and pulling him in. Dad huffed again, looking at Pop with indigence as he was hugged. Pop's smile only widened. "Oh come on, you know you do. I know you better than anyone in the world, hun. That's what years of being madly in love will do to you."

"Hopefully falling in love with an idiot isn't a genetic trait," Dad rolled his eyes, but still sunk into Pop a bit. Pop wore a small triumphant smile and lightly tapped our Dad with his head.

"Well, if you and your sister are any indication," Pop said, with a small laugh. "Then it more than likely is. I'm curious to see what kind of people these two will pick."

"I promise, if I ever to decide to bring anyone home, they'll be _interesting_ , Pop," I said, shaking my head with a laugh.

"I'll hold you to that," Pop said, with a smile. He frowned just as quickly as he grinned, however. "And please don't ever become as boring as my sister's children. Nathan's got his head stuck down a test tube… or maybe up his-"

"Marshall!" Dad quickly stopped him for finishing his thought.

"Ai, ai, I know, too _vulgar_ ," Marshall waved him off dismissively. "And that Serana. I can't say I don't admire her _ruthlessness_ , but she's a little off the wagon. And cuckoo, kinda like me when I was a bit younger. But you're much more normal than those two, is my point. Please, my kids, if not for yourself than for me. Live good, fulfilling lives. Shag a little, kiss a little. Make money, make friends. Do whatever your heart desires."

"For once, I think I'm going to agree with your Pop," Dad said, with a small smile. "I do wish for my son's happiness. More than you could ever imagine."

"We'll do just that, Pop, Dad." Eugene said, with a soft smile.

Xx

 _Kelsey Pillion_

"So, how've you and Serana been getting along?" Chelsea casually said, sipping on her warm coffee. She raised an eyebrow at me as I glanced back at her. "I mean, you disappeared for a _whole_ day. What were you doing?"

"It's… well… complicated." I said with a small sigh. I took a sip from my own creamy coffee, my eyebrows furrowing with thought.

"You could just say you went on a date," Chelsea snorted, with a small smirk. She held her large coffee cup in front of her face, hiding her stupid smile. She suddenly leaned forward, her eyes bright with glee. "C'mon! You don't even have to tell me the details of the date. Just give me _something_ to work with. Is she a sweetheart? She seems like she'd be kind of the chivalrous type. Not _too_ chivalrous though, if you catch my drift."

"Oh my Go-" I spluttered, a small bit of spit erupting from my mouth. I wiped a dribble of coffee from my chin and rolled my eyes at my laughing sister. "Yes, she's very nice, if that's what you're asking."

"Very nice?" Chelsea snickered. "That's all you're going to give me?"

"There's barely anything to give, Chelsea," I said, narrowing my eyes at her. "We're not even _really_ a thing yet."

"Pfft, that's a load of BS, Kels, and you know it," She snorted roughly, sitting back in her seat. "You've been a _thing_ since you met. It's just a matter of making it official. Is it going to happen soon?"

"I don't _know_ , Chelsea," I groaned, putting a palm against my forehead. "She's… _ugh_ , she's waiting for _me_ to ask _her_ out. And that's not really my thing, so who knows? Maybe we just won't."

"The likely hood of it not happening is slim to none," Chelsea said, crossing one booted foot over her other leg. "How are you planning on doing it? Asking her out, I mean."

"I don't have a plan," I sighed, taking a long sip from my cup. "Why do I even need a plan?"

"Well, you _have to_ plan what you're going to do," Chelsea grunted at this, seemingly annoyed with me. "And then you have to plan how you're going to ask her to do what you're planning on doing. Usually I come up with a backup, but _honestly_ you could tell her you want to go bird watching and she'd probably say yes. You two are _infatuated_ with each other."

"We are _not_ ," I groaned again, massaging my temples after I put my coffee on the table in between my sister and I. "Why are you making this weird for me?"

"Weird?" Chelsea laughed lightly. "Girl, it's not weird, but it sure as hell isn't normal. I mean this is… this is _fate_ , Kels. I could tell she was meant for you the _second_ I saw her. Twin-tuition, sis. I mean the away she _looks_ at you."

"She looks at me the way any person would look at a person they were interested in," I groaned, trying to figure out how to derail this conversation.

"Heh, Kelsey, honey, she looks at you as if the sun rises after a thousand years every damn time you come in here eye sight." Kelsey said, making a mock face by widening her eyes and batting her eyelashes. Her face returned normal after a second and she laughed. "Just face it, sis. You two are gonna be married within the next five years. I bet my life on it."

"Oh my god," I groaned again, my face heating up with embarrassment. As if to make matters worse, my phone decided to 'DING' to tell me I had a text.

"Twenty bucks says that her right now," Chelsea said, leaning over to look at my face up phone on the table. I quickly snatched it from her prying eyes and glared at her before looking at the green notification.

 _Good morning, love. Was actually messaging you to see what you were doing today, then I remembered that you have to ask me out. Hurry on up, sweetheart. Cheers_

 **Serana Abadeer**

"It's from her," Chelsea said, with a singsong triumphant voice.

"How would you even know?" I said, pursing my lips at her. Chelsea laughed.

"Because you got this small little 'Happy Kels' grin," Chelsea said, trying to imitate me on my face, with a tiny little smile. She looked back at me with her own smile, genuine pleasure in her eyes. "Look, sis, I know I've been teasing you, but seriously. You gotta go for it. This is one of those once in a lifetime opportunity, and you _know_ you'd never forgive yourself if you let this chance slip away."

"I…ugh, _fine,_ " I gave a small defeated sigh. I began typing on my phone. "I hate when you're right."

"Which is _quite_ often," Chelsea said, smug with her victory. "What're you going to ask her to do?"

"Can't she just come over and hang out?" I said, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Ah, geez, _no_ , Kelsey," Chelsea rolled her eyes and took a long sip from her drink. " _Hanging out_ is what happens when you either want a friends-with-benefits, like our dear, dear younger brother, ugh. Or when you're already in a relationship. Or I guess _after_ you've ba- Oh my god. You _have_ , haven't you!"

"Have what?" I said, scrunching my nose in question.

"You've _done the deed_!" She squealed in delight, trying to maintain a respectful volume in the middle of a café. "Oh my _god!_ You and Serana have gotten freaky in the sheets, haven't you? Oh my god. Was it good?"

"I'm _not_ talking about this," I groaned again.

"You're not denying it," She said, her grin only growing wider and wider. "And you didn't say it was awful, which is what you usually do straight off the bat. Oh my god. I bet she was amazing, with her weirdly strong-looking arms, those long limbs, and I bet she's _fit_ underneath her cl-"

"Chelsea!" I screeched, before she could go any further. "Stop!"

"Right, sorry," She said, apologetically. She hung her head a little lower, with a sheepish smile. "Anyways, you can't just _hang out_. Ask her to go out somewhere."

"Like where?" I said, frowning. "I don't _go out_ very often."

"Movies?"

"I don't even know what's out right now."

"Uh, the club?"

"I'm _not_ drinking around her again, any time soon at least."

"Dinner?"

"I don't even know where we'd go to eat."

"Ah! I know!" Chelsea said, looking like a lightbulb went off in her head. "She's a music fan, right? I heard an older band is coming to town, going to play a show in one of those bars downtown. Get her to go there. You'd have fun too, good music and it's _not_ a club."

"I… alright," I said, with a small nod. "Yeah. That sounds fine. Who is it? Where is it?"

"Give me a second, I'll look it up." Chelsea said, whipping her phone out of her jacket pocket. My phone 'DING'ed again and I looked at it.

 _Are you ignoring me? Didn't realize you were a hit and run kinda gal. My feelings are very hurt._

I groaned inwardly before typing a small message.

 _I'm not ignoring you_. I simply wrote. My phone dinged again within ten seconds.

 _Ah, I get it. You're trying to figure out how to ask me out, aren't you? Cute. I'll wait then._

I rolled my eyes as Chelsea began speaking again.

"Okay, so it's this band called the ' _Scream Queens_ ' or whatever." She said, reading the information off her phone. "I'll send you the link. It's at this place called 'The Bleeding Bat'."

"Doesn't sound ominous at all," I murmured, beginning to type a new message on my phone.

 _Do you, maybe, want to go see a band play, downtown?_ There was a small woosh and barely ten seconds between the next ding.

 _Who and where, love? The answer is_ _ **probably**_ _yes, by the way._

"You know, listening to it, their music isn't all that bad," Chelsea said, as low music played from her phone. She had the speaker close to her ear as she nodded with approval. "Kinda like… rock sensual. I don't know. You know music better than I do."

 _Some band called 'The Scream Queens'. Downtown at a bar called 'The Bleeding Bat'. My sister says they're pretty good._

"It's pretty good, actually," I said, mirroring her nod of approval. "The voice sounds… weirdly familiar though."

 _Well, this is interesting._

At this message I blinked, waiting for the next message as I looked at the three white dots on my screen.

 _Have you heard any of their stuff? Yourself?_

 _A little, me and Chelsea are listening right now. Why?_ I messaged back. Somehow I could practically hear her chuckling in my head.

 _The voice doesn't sound… familiar to you?_

 _I mean, it kind of does. Is it someone you know?_

 _Love, it's my mom. Marceline, I mean. And 'The Bleeding Bat' is a vampire bar. Of course, we can always go if you want, I'd just have to keep a close eye on you._

"Oh my god," I said out loud, immediately cursing my mistake when Chelsea gave me an odd look.

"What's up?" She asked.

"The band… her, uh… her _mom_ is the singer." I said, groaning again. "And apparently the bar it's… uh…. It's got some sketchy people there. I mean, people she knows, but sketch."

"Her _mom_ is the lead singer of this band?" Chelsea said, her eyes widening for a second. "Oh man, I gotta look them up now."

 _Love? I don't mind going. If it's what you want to do, then I'm in. I'll even talk to my twat of a mother and get you VIP status. Ha. Not that it really means much at an old rundown bat bar, but you know me. I like to try to show off._

"What'd she say?" Chelsea asked. "Is she saying no?"

"She's actually saying yes," I said, blinking in surprise. Another _ding_.

 _Besides, I don't mind keeping a close eye on you, sweetheart. Pick you up at seven?_

I felt heat rush into my face and looked away from my phone. Chelsea snickered.

 _That's fine. I'll see you then._

"Is she dirty talking you?" Chelsea said, and leaned forward slightly as she waggled her eyebrows. " _Sexting_?"

"No!" I cried, covering my face with a hand. "No, Chelsea! Geez!"

"Mhhmmm," She hummed, amused as she sat back. "Oh, by the way. Make sure you don't walk alone at night. Not that I think Serana would just let you walk home by yourself, but other nights too. Word is, there's something's attacking students. They're not sure what it is yet, the patterns seem human but the injuries imply animal. There's at least been six people, maybe more, they're not sure."

"Ah," I said, frowning. "That's awful."

"Beyond awful," She agreed. "Strength in numbers, right? I'm sure Serana won't mind making sure you get home safe. She can always just sleep at our place too, if there's no one to walk her back."

I bit back a comment about how she'd be perfectly fine, remembering that my sister was unaware of Serana's current immortal state.

"I'm just not walking out anywhere past seven o'clock, unless I'm in a group of _at least_ five people." Chelsea said, shaking her head. Her black hair was beginning to become a bit messy, and she combed through it with her fingers. She took a light blue hair tie off her wrist, put it in her mouth and began putting her hair up. "I don't take risks like that."

"You shouldn't," I said, nodding in agreement. The door at the front of the café chimed, indicating that someone was coming through it. Chelsea held her pony tail with one hand and reached down to get her hair tie, before wrapping it around twice and letting go. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I don't _want_ to get hurt," Chelsea laughed lightly. Suddenly her eyes locked onto something behind me. I frowned, confused, and turned in my chair.

"What're you looking at?" I said, lowly. Chelsea didn't respond before my eyes lined with hers.

Looking back at us was a young man, couldn't be more than mid-twenties, glancing back at us. More specifically, Chelsea. He was taller than us, probably standing just a bit over six foot. He had short black hair, that somehow still managed to be shaggy despite its length. His eyes were a pale, pale blue, placed underneath his lifted thin eyebrows. His mouth was in a small frown, a light amount of stubble covering his square jaw.

He shook his head, breaking eye contact, and walking up to the barista. He reached into his jacket pocket to pull out his wallet as he talked, his voice low and rumbling even from where I sat. He was wearing a pair of black jeans, along with bright colored converse. He had on a dark blue military jacket, with two strings hanging from the hood and deep pockets.

"He's kind of… _exactly_ your type," I noted, turning to look back at my sister.

"He kinda is," She said, with a small shrug. "Except he looks a bit older. And I don't really do older guys."

"Huh, "I said, taking a sip from my coffee. I felt another headache coming on and cursed inwardly. "I guess you're right. He's gotta be at least… twenty-five? Twenty-six?"

"I'm putting him at twenty-eight," Chelsea said, with a confident nod. "Nobody under twenty-eight carries themselves that way. Like he kind of… knows who he is? I don't know. You can just tell."

"Hmm," I hummed non-commitally, attempting not to squint and worry my sister as I felt a throb against my temples.

 _Don't ignore me, lassie_.

It took everything in me not to jump. I looked around, subtlety, trying to give face to the voice I just heard, but saw nothing.

"Kels?" Chelsea said, concern lining her eyes as I looked back at her. "What's up? You look like you saw a ghost."

"It's nothing." I said, dismissively. "I'm just getting a headache, that's all."

 _DO. NOT. IGNORE. ME._

"You want to head home?" Chelsea said.

"Yeah, I should probably get some homework done," I said, nodding lightly, avoiding moving my head too much.

 _It's only a matter of time, girl. Until I have you. And_ _ **her**_ _. Until I have everyone._

"Alright," Chelsea said, putting her phone back in her pocket and standing up. "Home it is."

Xx

Xx

Boys and girl, men and women of all ages. Welcome back!

Yeah, so, I'm not gonna be rude and say 'I told you so' at updates not being frequent. Cuz that'd be an ass move, and honestly, I'm the one updating so it'd just be stupid. But, like I said, updates will _not_ be frequent. I apologize.

That being said, I hope you guys will stay with me through it. There's some exciting stuff planned, and I think it's going to be good. I know this chapter was kinda stupid and nothing _really_ got accomplished, but stuff _will_ happen, I swear on my grandmothers grave.

Anyways. As always, please leave comments for me! Criticism, comments, suggestions, compliments. I eat them _all_ up.

 _Real Nigga:_ Haha first off, can I just say having my writing described as 'nice af' is probably the best compliment I've ever gotten. I truly thank you, kind soul, from the bottom of my heart. Writing back story for eleven characters was literally fucking insane dude. I've only ever done like seven or eight at most. And I've never been a huge outline kid, and I did that, but it's really helping so IDK why I didn't do it before. It's like 'whoa, I'm actually organized for once'. Revelational. Once again, thank you for your kind words. Really, honestly, I just hope that when some people see what I say or what I write, they can just kind of relate. I know, for me, it sucks when I feel like I'm all alone in what feels like this kind of endless struggle. It's all about trying to figure out what makes me happy, and then doing that so that I can feel like I really belong, you know? Thanks man. Honestly, I love thinking that I've gotten to touch some people. I mean, not like, _touch_ some people, but… egh, you know what I mean. And don't worry, as of this moment, I do plan to finish the story. It's gonna be a ride.

 _D3nsei:_ Ha, well, life happens. If I stay bitter about it, I'll just keep wallowing for the rest of my life. Thank you, though, I do appreciate it. Dear _God_ , do I love fantasy, though. I mean, I can't bang an elf in real life, now can I. Ahem. Anyways. Kelsey's family? Who knows man. I mean, maybe I don't even know. Maybe _she_ doesn't even know. True shit man, _anything_ is fair game here. I mean, not anything, I'm not Game of Thrones here. I don't even think I've killed off more than four characters, if even. Who knows, maybe that'll change. Mwa hahaha!


	9. Honestly, I Suck

Hi guys I wanted to apologize for the incredible inconsistency, first things first. I am truly the worst. My laptop that I have used to write with for the past 5/6 years finally gave up and is RIP'd.  
The second thing is that I'm officially announcing this story dead. And by dead, I mean, I'm scraping this and completely rewriting it. And this time I'm going to be SMART and put all my notes and shit on a google doc. I apologize to everyone that keeps getting the short end because I SUCK at being a consistent writer.  
The rewrite's going to follow the same basic idea, mostly the same characters. I hope that some of you may keep up with me in the next story. See you all next time! (also, sorry one more time for sucking) 


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